Haunted
by saiken2009
Summary: Rededicated to Jedistarmonkee and Farfisa. Thank you. Sometimes your past comes back to haunt in the most unexpected ways. As much as you try and forget your past, it will never truly leave you. The boys have to work to overcome their past to save a woman they never expected to meet. Rated M for violence, language and adult themes.
1. A Terrifying Encounter

Author's Note: If you like this story, you have MonkeeMidgie to thank for pushing me to write this. I've been thinking about it for a while, but wasn't sure I wanted to do 4 stories at once. You'll have to bear with me; I'll post as often as I can, but yes, I have 4 stories going at once...anyway, rated M for violence, language, and adult themes.

Chapter 1: A Terrifying Encounter

Mike finished loading up the bright red Monkeemobile with half a dozen boxes. The whole block had decided to go through their stuff and box up whatever they weren't using as far as clothes or toys so they could be donated to a nearby church. The boys didn't have much they could give away, but they boxed up what they could and had even gotten people to donate while performing at the train station. Mike and Micky had volunteered the night before to drive the boxes over to the church once everything was gathered up.

"You ready, Mike?" Micky asked hopping in the passenger seat.

"Let's go," Mike answered with a smile. The two waved at their neighbors as well as Peter and Davy before taking off towards the church. It took nearly an hour to get to the church and when they pulled up, the pastor was already outside waiting for them. Mike and Micky carried the boxes inside the church and waited for a moment to make sure the pastor had everything under control. When they made to leave, Mike noticed Micky staring at a building behind the church.

"You ok?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, just...that building gives me the creeps," Micky answered.

"That's a hospital," the pastor said. "It gives most people that feeling. We do a lot of work over there."

"Why does a hospital give people a creepy feeling?" Mike asked feeling a slight shudder himself.

"It's a psychiatric hospital," the pastor answered. "The patients there are very sick. Most are there for the rest of their lives. There's a wing for the criminally insane, even. But most people aren't creeped out by the hospital unless they know what it is though. It's interesting you would be before learning of it."

"Yeah, well, let's just go home," Micky said shuddering again a little. Mike nodded and turned his back to the creepy building in the background of the church. Once he got behind the driver's seat the pastor waved goodbye at them.

"Thank you boys for the donations!" he smiled. "It will really help a lot of people."

"No problem," Mike smiled as they drove away. "It's our pleasure!" Mike watched in the rearview mirror as the pastor made sure they made it out of the driveway before turning back toward the church. Mike looked over and noticed that Micky was still staring at the hospital. Micky shivered again and pulled his jacket closer to him.

"Stop looking at it if it freaks you out that much," Mike chuckled a little.

"Can't help it," Micky mumbled. "There's something off about that place."

"It's a mental hospital, Micky," Mike said pulling up to a stop sign in a four way intersection. "The pastor even said they house the criminally insane. People who murder other people and try and say they did it because their mommies and daddies hit them."

"I see where you stand on that subject," Micky chuckled.

"What, criminally insane people?" Mike asked. "Well, yeah. I mean, sure some of them probably have a few screws loose and need help, but I'm sorry, a lot of people come from broken and messed up homes and don't go out and kill other people. It's a load of crock. Just another way for people to avoid taking responsibility for their actions."

"Very eloquent," Micky laughed. "Are you going to sit here all night?"

"Oh, right," Mike answered not realizing he was still sitting at the stop sign. Mike moved his foot to the accelerator and started to move the car forward through the stop sign.

"Wait, stop!" Micky exclaimed suddenly reaching out to grab his arm.

"What?" Mike asked putting his foot back on the brake.

"Didn't you hear that?" Micky asked.

"Hear what?" Mike asked. Then he heard it; the sound of a woman crying in the distance.

"That," Micky said getting out of the car.

"Micky, wait," Mike said throwing the car in park and following him. On one side of the road was a clearing but on the other, the side Micky entered, was the start of an orange grove. Mike followed Micky carefully through the trees as they listened for the woman. Mike heard it again and as much as he wanted to get back to the car, he couldn't ignore a woman in need of help so he pulled Micky's arm toward the sound. The sound of the woman crying grew louder ever so slowly as they grew nearer to her. Finally after a few minutes, Mike could barely make out the shape of a woman leaning against a tree and crying. She had her back to them so didn't see them approach, but when she heard the snap of a twig Mike stepped on, she turned. Her eyes grew wide with fear and she tried to scramble away. Instead, she collapsed on the ground only inches from where she'd been sitting.

Micky let out a startled gasp as he rushed toward her ripping his jacket off. Mike stood frozen for a second unable to really believe what he was seeing. The woman looked young, around 20 or so, with long blonde hair that was dirty and disheveled. And she was naked and covered in little cuts that looked fresh. Micky sank to his knees and threw his jacket over the woman, though she tried to squirm away even more. She seemed incredibly terrified and as weak as she seemed wanted desperately to get away from them.

"It's ok," Micky said softly. "We're not going to hurt you. You're ok now." The woman looked at Micky and seemed to relax a little bit, but Mike wasn't sure if it was because she looked so weak or because she somehow suddenly felt like she could trust him.

"They're after me," she whispered. "They'll find me!"

"Who?" Mike asked kneeling next to them. She jerked back a little, but Micky placed both hands firmly on her shoulders.

"It's ok," Micky repeated. "We aren't going to let anyone hurt you. You're ok."

"We can take you back to our car and get you someplace safe," Mike said. She looked at Mike for a little while, then seemed to relax a little again.

"I twisted my ankle," she said. Her voice even sounded weak. "I ran as fast as I could and tripped."

"It's ok," Micky said. "I can carry you."

"What's your name?" Mike asked as Micky reached under her to lift her off the ground. She looked emaciated so it wasn't that hard for Micky; Mike guessed she was maybe 50 or 60 pounds.

"Sarah," she answered softly wrapping her arms around Micky's neck. Mike shifted the jacket a little so it continued to cover her and keep her warm.

"Hi, Sarah," Mike said. "I'm Mike and this is Micky. Our car is just right up the road. We can take you to a hospital and get you help."

"No!" she exclaimed so forcefully and suddenly that it startled Mike. Her face was blanketed in a mask of pure terror and she squirmed to try to get out of Micky's grip again, but he just held her tighter. "No hospitals! No! They'll find me!"

"Sarah, you're hurt bad," Mike tried reasoning with her. "You need help. They're not going to find you. You'll be safe in a hospital."

"No!" she exclaimed again and tried to fight harder.

"Ok!" Micky said roughly. "Ok, we get it. No hospital. We'll take you home."

"No hospital," she repeated calming down a little. She wasn't fighting Micky, but she still looked terrified.

"No hospitals," Micky said softly.

"Micky," Mike started to argue; the woman looked incredibly sick.

"No hospitals," Micky said again but more firmly. "I promise." Mike sighed and followed Micky back to the car. When they came near the road, Mike held out his hand to stop Micky for a moment so he could look at the road to make sure there was no one watching them. If people really were looking for her, he didn't want them to see Mike and Micky carrying her to their car. When he was satisfied that no one else was on the road, he waved them out to the car. Micky quickly crossed the road to their car and climbed into the backseat with her. Mike started the car and pulled out of the intersection. As much as he wanted to take this woman to a hospital, he drove the car towards their beach house checking the rearview mirror periodically.

Mike's heart was pounding the whole drive home. The woman had clearly been tortured and had made an escape and if it hadn't been for them finding her, who knew if she'd have been found by someone else. She could very well have died out in the darkness or been found by the people who had hurt her; the people she was so afraid were going to find her. Sometime on the ride home, Sarah had buried her face against Micky's shoulder with her arms still tightly clinging to his neck. Mike wasn't sure if she had passed out or not, but he couldn't hear her crying anymore. When they finally got home, Mike jumped out to open the car and front doors for Micky so he could more easily carry her inside. Peter and Davy were sitting at the table playing a game of checkers, but when they saw Micky and Mike walk in with this woman, they jumped up from the table in shock.

"Bedroom door," Micky said nodding toward the bedroom on the bottom floor that was currently shared by Davy and Peter.

"What happened!?" Davy exclaimed as Mike ran to open the door for them.

"I'm taking over your room for the night," Micky said. "Hope you don't mind."

"No," Peter said adamantly. "What happened though? Who is that?"

"We found her near the church," Mike explained.

"Why not take her to a hosp-" Davy started. Mike quickly slapped a hand over Davy's mouth before he could finish the word; he didn't want Sarah to flip out again in case she was still conscious.

"Don't say that," Mike said as they followed Micky into the room. "She doesn't want to go there. She's afraid the people who hurt her will find her there."

"What happened to her?" Peter asked looking as though he were about ready to cry for the woman. Mike had a thought as to what had happened to the woman, but didn't want to share it with Peter and Davy. They didn't need to know that evil like that really existed in the world.

"I don't know," Mike lied as Micky carefully set her on the bed nearest the door. Sarah started getting upset again and clung to Micky tighter.

"Ok, I'm not going anywhere, but you have to let go of me so I can put you on the bed," Micky said softly. "I'll stay right here as long as you want me to, but you have to let go. You're in my house. You're safe."

"Don't leave," Sarah whispered weakly.

"I won't," Micky said as she finally let go of him allowing him to set her down softly on the bed.

"Davy, can you get some soup or something warmed up for her?" Mike instructed. "Peter, go get a glass of water and the first aid kit." Davy and Peter nodded before turning to leave as Micky started covering her up with the sheet on the bed. Mike took Micky's coat off her as soon as Micky had her sufficiently covered and set it on the floor; it had several blood spots all over it.

"Micky, she's bleeding bad," Mike said softly trying not to alarm her.

"I know," Micky answered. Peter rushed back into the room with the water and a box of first aid supplies they usually kept under the bathroom sink. They usually got into trouble themselves or were otherwise accident prone, so Mike had taken the liberty to make sure they were always stocked on bandages and other needs in case one of them hurt themselves. Davy followed behind with a large bowl full of water and a handful of of towels and washcloths.

"I figured you could use these to help clean her up," Davy said setting the bowl of water carefully on the nightstand and handing the towels to Mike.

"Thanks, Davy," Mike said. Sarah seemed to notice Davy and Peter for the first time and squirmed away towards Micky and started crying again.

"Calm down, Sarah," Micky said softly. "It's ok; these are my friends Davy and Peter. They're going to help you, too. I promise you as long as I'm here, no one will hurt you again. You're safe with me. Just relax. You can trust me." Sarah looked between Micky then Davy and Peter quickly before relaxing yet again.

"I...uh...I brought you some water," Peter said tentatively holding the glass out to her. Mike knew how weak Sarah must have been, so he took the glass of water from Peter and carefully brought it to Sarah's lips.

"Drink slowly," Mike said as he helped lift her head a little toward the glass. She seemed to want to gulp the water down, but lacked the energy; which was fine as far as Mike was concerned. She was more than likely extremely dehydrated and he knew from being raised in the deserts of Texas that when you got dehydrated, it would shock your system to drink too much water at once.

"Sarah, is it ok if I take a look at your wounds?" Micky asked. Sarah nodded and rested her head back down on the pillow. Mike carefully moved to pull the sheet down just enough to see some of the cuts on her shoulders, but she immediately flinched away.

"Mike, why don't you take Davy and Peter out to check on her soup?" Micky said. Though it was phrased like a question, Mike knew it wasn't. For a moment he thought about insisting he stay and help, but he knew after what she'd been through having that many males around her would be too overwhelming for her. And for some reason he didn't understand, she seemed to trust Micky with everything she had left. He wasn't going to question that too much, however since he knew how hard it was for someone to trust someone else after being kidnapped and tortured. So instead he just nodded and stood up.

"Is there anyone we can call for you, Sarah?" Mike asked before he left.

"No," Sarah answered. "I don't have anyone."


	2. Caring Hands

Author's Note: Really nervous about this story, so please let me know if it's any good!

Chapter 2: Caring Hands

Micky stared at Sarah's face for a good while. Her face was pale and almost looked hollow because of how skinny she was. After she told Mike there wasn't anyone they could call for her, Mike had nodded and left with Davy and Peter. Micky knew he had to hurry to treat her wounds before they got infected, but he felt nervous about doing it. He wasn't sure exactly how long she'd been out in that orchard, but judging by the dried dirt on her face, he guessed it was a while. Which unfortunately meant that her wounds very well could already be infected. So he set aside his nerves and pulled the sheet down to inspect her shoulders first. This time she didn't flinch; she really did trust Micky.

There were probably half a dozen little red blisters in conjunction with little cuts buried in dried blood and dirt. Micky grabbed the washcloth and dipped it lightly in the water before gently wiping the dirt, sweat and blood off her shoulders. She inhaled sharply as he brushed over some of the wounds, but now he could get a better look at them. The cuts just looked like they'd possibly been made by tree branches smacking into her; they were very shallow and had only brought up a little blood. It was the blisters that had Micky worried. As he inspected them further, he realized they were bug bites.

"Sarah," Micky said softly. "How long were you in that orchard?"

"A few hours," Sarah answered. Micky frowned a little; that wasn't long enough for her to have gotten this many bug bites this deep. Some of them looked even a few days old and were already scabbing over.

"Where did these come from?" Micky asked indicating the bug bites.

"The basement," she answered wearily.

"Basement?" Micky echoed trying to find something to put on them. He found a small bottle of calamine lotion at the bottom of the box, but it was nearly empty already.

"In the hospital," she answered making Micky freeze slightly. It suddenly hit Micky; she had been in the psychiatric hospital and that's why she had freaked out so much about being taken to the hospital.

"You were tied up in the basement of that psychiatric hospital?" Micky asked. It made sense if she'd been restrained that she wouldn't have been able to move and stop the insects from biting her.

"I did a bad thing," she said.

"Hey, none of this is your fault," Micky said. "Don't you even start thinking it is. No one has any right to do what they did to you."

"I wouldn't..." she started. She suddenly hissed in pain and her body went rigid.

"What's wrong?" Micky asked getting worried.

"My stomach," she moaned. One hand gripped the sheets while the other tried to claw at her stomach.

"Stop," Micky said moving her hand away from her stomach and pulling the sheet down. There were more little blisters on her stomach. Micky's brow furrowed a little when he realized her stomach was slightly distended. She groaned slightly and tried to claw at her stomach again.

"Make it stop," Sarah moaned.

"What happened?" Micky asked.

"They took it," Sarah said relaxing a little finally.

"Took what?" Micky asked looking at her.

"He got mad that I wouldn't deliver," Sarah said relaxing fully. Whatever had caused her pain was gone now. "So he tied me up in the basement until I did."

"Sarah," Micky said softly. "Did you have a baby?" Sarah nodded softly and groaned in pain again.

"They took it," Sarah said. "They took it away. It didn't cry."

"How long ago was that?" Micky asked.

"Last night," Sarah answered. "I'm really tired."

"I know you are, but I need you to stay awake for a little longer," Micky said. "You need to eat when I get done here." Sarah closed her eyes anyway and as much as Micky wanted her to stay awake, he couldn't push her. Instead he moved the sheet down further. The pain in her stomach had been from residual cramping after labor and would come and go, but he knew he had to take care of after-delivery figuring her captor's wouldn't have bothered. She groaned a little as Micky moved her legs apart a little. When he saw the small pool of blood forming, he groaned inwardly.

"It hurts," Sarah groaned.

"I know it does," Micky said grabbing the washcloth and wiping down her legs of the dried and fresh blood. "But just hang on a little." As Micky cleaned her legs, she gasped in pain again and clutched the sheets tightly. He cringed inwardly as more blood pooled in between her legs.

"Make it stop," she gasped.

"Just hang on," Micky said softly pulling the sheet back over her. "I'm going to go get you some something to eat. I'll be right back." Micky tried to move away toward the door, but she reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Micky," she said pleading for him to stay.

"Sarah, I'll be right outside," Micky said. "I promise. I'll leave the door open so you can see me, but you have to eat something. I'll be right back." She relaxed and let go of him after about a minute and he quickly shuffled out into the living room. Davy was at the stove stirring the pot of soup and Mike and Peter were sitting at the table nervously.

"Is she ok?" Peter asked jumping up.

"Not really," Micky said softly so she wouldn't hear through the door he'd left open. "I need you guys to go to the store and get some things. I'll make you a list."

"Micky, we can't afford that," Mike said softly as Micky grabbed a pencil and paper. "I wanna help this girl as much as you do, but maybe the best thing is to take her to the hospital if she's hurt that bad."

"No," Micky said firmly.

"Maybe she's scared about it now, but she'll calm down later," Davy said.

"No," Micky snapped. "I promised her no hospitals."

"Micky-" Mike started.

"I said no, dammit!" Micky yelled pounding his fist on the counter. "We aren't taking her back to another hospital."

"What do you mean?" Peter asked looking a little scared. Micky took a deep breath realizing they all looked a little scared; Micky had never really snapped at any of them like that before.

"That's where they had her," Micky said checking to see if his outburst had startled Sarah at all. "She was at that mental hospital."

"What?" Mike asked.

"What mental hospital?" Davy asked.

"There's a mental hospital near the church where we found her," Mike answered hastily. "What do you mean she was at the mental hospital?"

"I mean that's where they were keeping her," Micky said. "They tied her up in the basement and left her there for days."

"Did she tell you that?" Davy asked slowly. "Cause if she was in a mental hospital-"

"She's not insane, Davy, and don't let her hear you say that," Micky snapped checking again to make sure Sarah didn't hear.

"Davy has a point," Peter said.

"You saw her, Peter," Micky said. "She didn't get that way on her own!"

"I'm inclined to agree with Micky," Mike said. "You didn't see her. She was terrified and those injuries are not self inflicted."

"Are you sure?" Davy asked.

"Davy, she's covered from head to toe in bug bites," Micky said rubbing his head. "Some of which are at least a few days old if not a week. You don't get that way unless you're restrained. I don't care how crazy you are, you're not going to let bugs eat you for lunch. You brush them off as soon as you feel them crawling on you."

"Unless you can't," Mike said. "How bad is it?"

"It gets worse," Micky said scribbling down a few things on the paper. "I need someone to go get this stuff from the store. We need to use the emergency fund or something. Also we need to get her some clothes."

"Clothes?" Peter asked as Mike took the paper from Micky and inspected it.

"Why do you think she was wearing my jacket?" Micky asked amazed at how naive his friend could be sometimes.

"Oh," Peter answered.

"Well, I still don't see why we can't take her to a regular hospital," Davy said. "A regular hospital is different than a mental hospital and she can get the help she needs."

"The doctors at the mental hospital will know she's escaped," Micky said. "Which means they'll put an alert out to other hospitals because they know she's hurt. If that happens, they'll just help her and then ship her back to the mental hospital to be tortured some more."

"How do we know it was the doctors who did this?" Peter asked.

"We don't, but it's a likely assumption that they at least knew what was going on," Micky answered.

"Micky," Mike said slowly. "These are...is she...I mean was she..."

"Yes," Micky answered.

"What?" Davy asked peering over to look at the paper.

"She just had a baby," Micky answered.

"You must be joking!" Davy exclaimed.

"No," Micky answered just as Sarah gasped in pain again from the other room.

"Is she ok?" Peter asked.

"No," Micky answered running back into the room. "Whoever did this to her took her baby and left her to die in the basement of that hospital. But the sooner you go to the store, the sooner she'll get better."

"Davy, Peter, you go to the store," Mike instructed as Micky went back in the room and sat on the edge of the bed. Micky heard the shuffling of movement and assumed the two had agreed to go without any further argument. Micky had to move Sarah's hand as she once again tried to grasp at her stomach.

"I know it hurts, Sarah, but you've got to stop that," Micky said softly taking her hand in his. "We're going to get you something for the pain; you just have to hold on a little longer."

"It hurts!" Sarah exclaimed squeezing Micky's hand hard.

"I know," Micky said. "Just breathe through it. Long, deep breaths. Can you do that for me?" Sarah nodded a little and let out a long breath. After a minute, the pain was over and she relaxed again.

"I brought her some of these," Mike said behind them. "I found them in the closet."

"Thanks," Micky said as Mike set down a pile of folded clothes on the bed.

"I also brought her soup if she's up for it," Mike said holding a bowl in the other hand.

"You ready to eat?" Micky asked.

"Can I just go to sleep now?" Sarah asked weakly.

"I want you to eat something first," Micky said. "Then we'll get you dressed. Then you can sleep."

"I'm not hungry," Sarah argued. "I'm tired."

"When's the last time you ate?" Mike asked.

"Few days ago maybe," she answered.

"That's why you're not hungry," Micky said. "Severe malnourishment. You have to eat something. You'll feel better; I promise." She finally nodded that she would let them help her eat. She was still really weak, but at least the soup would be easy for her to digest and not hard for her to swallow. Mike sat down on the edge of the bed and carefully spoon fed her a little bit of the soup before she cried out in pain again. Micky carefully laid his hands on her stomach and felt for her hip. She relaxed almost immediately after he began slowly massaging her stomach in little circles.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Mike asked.

"Saw it when I was a kid," Micky answered.

"Oh," Mike answered. "Is that also how you know what to do?"

"Yeah," Micky answered.

"Can I go to sleep now?" Sarah asked. She'd only eaten half the bowl of soup, but Micky didn't want to press her too much.

"Yeah," Micky answered. "Just let us help you get some clothes on." She nodded and closed her eyes as Mike grabbed the clothes and started handing them to Micky one at a time. She was too weak to do much to help, so Mike had to help lift and hold her for Micky to get them on. Once she was finally fully dressed, Micky gently brushed her hair out of her face and told her to sleep.

"Will you stay here?" Sarah asked softly.

"I'll stay here as long as you want me to," Micky answered with a smile. It didn't take her very long after that to fall asleep.


	3. Getting Supplies

Author's Note: Please let me know what you think!

Chapter 3: Getting Supplies

"Is this really a good idea?" Davy asked as he and Peter pulled into the parking lot of the nearest drug store. "What if she is just a little..."

"Insane?" Peter asked. "I don't know; but if Mike and Micky trust her, then I trust them. Let's just get this stuff and get back home."

"Ok, but I really don't know what the stuff on this list is," Davy said looking at the paper Mike had given him before they left. "Save for maybe aspirin and calamine lotion."

"Let me see," Peter said getting out of the car. Davy handed Peter the list to him and he scanned it. There wasn't much on it, but Peter was at a loss to know what most of it was. "I don't know what this stuff is either."

"Do you think we should just ask someone?" Davy asked.

"Don't see why not," Peter answered. "Might go quicker." The pair walked into the store together, but didn't see anyone that could help them. Peter wandered around the store looking for someone to help them to no avail.

"No one's here," Davy muttered.

"Maybe we should just start looking," Peter said. "Maybe someone will come along then. The first thing we know is aspirin. Should be down here." Peter walked down an aisle that was full of decongestants and other pills. He quickly located a bottle of inexpensive aspirin and plucked it off the shelf.

"What's next?" Davy asked peering at the list in Peter's hand.

"Calamine lotion," Peter answered peering around the aisle. There were little pink glass bottles toward the end of the aisle. Walking towards them, Peter confirmed they were bottles of the lotion they needed.

"You really think she's got that many bug bites?" Davy asked.

"I trust Micky," Peter said. "If he says she does, I believe him. Think we should get a big bottle?"

"Yeah," Davy said. "I had poison ivy as a kid. Grandpa went through a whole bottle in a couple of days. And that was when I was small. Who knows how long Sarah's going to be with us and whatever we don't use on her now, we can save for later if we ever need it again." Davy grabbed a big bottle off the top shelf, which he could barely reach, before asking Peter what was next on the list.

"Witch hazel," Peter answered. "What is that?"

"I don't know," Davy answered.

"Can I help you?" said a bubbly woman behind him.

"Uh, yeah," Peter answered handing her the list. "We need these things."

"Oh," the woman said looking at the list. "Who's the lucky father?"

"Uh...neither of us," Davy said. "It's for a friend and we don't know anything about any of those things other than the aspirin and calamine lotion."

"Oh, well, follow me," the woman said walking towards another aisle. Peter and Davy followed closely behind her as she approached a shelf full of brown glass bottles. Peter looked at the labels on the bottle the woman grabbed. "This is your witch hazel. It helps with the swelling and soreness down there."

"Thanks," Davy said sounding a little grossed out taking it from her.

"Next are nursing and hygiene pads," the woman smiled.

"What exactly are those?" Davy asked curiously as they followed her down another aisle.

"You'll understand once you see them," the woman smiled turning down an aisle filled with cardboard boxes. Peter looked at the boxes and instantly realized what they were.

"Why do we need these?" Peter asked blushing a little. "She just had the baby. I thought when women were pregnant they didn't...uhm..."

"There will always be a little bleeding afterwards for a few days," the woman said. "I've had two of my own. I recommend these...their overnights and they'll hold a lot more."

"I'm gonna kill Micky when we get home," Davy muttered turning a bright shade of red.

"Davy, if Sarah needs this stuff, then someone has to get it for her," Peter said though he felt himself blush a bright shade of pink as well.

"Yeah, well, why couldn't he do it?" Davy asked.

"Because he has to take care of her," Peter answered.

"I know you boys must be highly embarrassed, but it's all perfectly normal," the woman smiled. "There is nothing to be embarrassed about."

"Is this all we need?" Davy asked.

"Just the nursing pads and you'll be set," she answered. "I'll even ring you up. How's that."

"Great," Davy muttered. "Let's just get this over with." The woman grabbed a box of nursing pads off the shelf in the next aisle and led them to the register. Even though Davy was letting his embarrassment turn to anger, she never once wavered from her smile or cheery demeanor. The boys paid and the woman even double-bagged the items noting how embarrassed Davy seemed about having someone see them with such personal items. She wished them good luck and they quickly walked out of the store.

"Well that was interesting," Peter said.

"Micky could at least have warned us," Davy grumbled.

"Sure," Peter said. "But we probably should also have known it would be personal stuff as soon as Mike realized that she was pregnant just from reading the list."

"Whatever," Davy answered with a snort. They drove the rest of the way home in silence. When they walked inside, Mike was emerging from their room holding a bowl.

"Did you guys get everything?" Mike asked.

"Sure," Davy said. "Didn't know we were getting feminine stuff."

"What did you expect, Davy?" Mike asked.

"Just some painkillers and bandages," Davy answered.

"Well, we have that stuff already," Mike answered. "Anyway, that doesn't matter. I'll give this stuff to Micky if you wanna clean up out here."

"She didn't eat?" Peter asked looking at the bowl of soup and noticing it was only half full.

"She ate some, but not much," Mike answered heavily. "Don't wanna shove too much down her throat anyway. It's been a few days since she ate. Eating too much now could overload her system."

"How is she?" Davy asked peering through the door.

"She's asleep finally," Mike answered. "She needs rest as much as she needs food and water. I'll make her something else to eat in the morning."

"But she ate and drank a little?" Peter asked.

"A little, but like I said, I don't wanna overdo it," Mike said.

"Is Micky gonna stay in there tonight?" Davy asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Mike said just as Micky emerged.

"You find everything alright?" Micky asked reaching for the bag.

"Yeah," Peter answered before Davy could show his contempt for Micky for having sent them on such an embarrassing errand. "The lady at the store picked stuff out for us. She recommended a few brands, too."

"Great," Micky said. "Thanks. Hey, I hope you guys don't mind, but I'm gonna stay in there with her tonight. You guys cool sleeping upstairs? You can duke it out over who gets my bed."

"That's fine, Micky," Peter said.

"Are you going to actually get some sleep?" Mike asked. "Or just watch her all night?"

"Well, I've still gotta wash her up a little," Micky said. "Hopefully I can do that without waking her up; I think she's out pretty solidly though. Then, yeah, I'll lay down, but I want to be there for her when she wakes up."

"Do you want any help?" Peter asked.

"Thanks, Pete, but I think I should just do this on my own," Micky said. "The more people surrounding and touching her right now, the more freaked out she's gonna be."

"You're really gonna..." Peter started nervously. "You know...put that stuff...the pads on yourself?"

"She's out cold, Peter," Micky said. "It's fine."

"But..." Peter started.

"It's fine, Peter," Micky said. "I've seen a woman before and someone has to do it. I can't let her just sit there in her own blood."

"It'll be fine, Pete," Mike added. "Just go upstairs and settle yourselves in. I'll bring some of your clothes up in a little bit."

"Is she gonna be here for a while?" Davy asked.

"More than likely," Mike said. "You guys ok with that?"

"Do we have a choice?" Davy muttered and walked toward the stairs.

"What's your problem, Davy?" Mike asked after him.

"I just don't understand why we're running out to the store buying pads and stuff for a girl we don't even know," Davy answered. "I get that she needs help and she's hurt, but I'm just not quite sure I buy her story. She was in a mental hospital for crying out loud! How do we not know that this whole tied up in the basement thing isn't all a figment of her paranoid imagination? We're broke and hungry ourselves. We can't afford to be taking this on."

"Davy, you didn't see her when we found her," Mike argued.

"I don't have to," Davy said. "She could be schizophrenic or something for all we know."

"Davy, I trust Mike and Micky's judgement," Peter said. "I think you're just upset about-"

"No, Peter, I'm not," Davy interrupted. "I trust doctors. Doctors don't hurt people! They help people like her! They don't tie people up in basements and take away their babies!"

"Not always," Micky said angrily.

"They take an oath!" Davy argued.

"So do cops, David," Micky spat back, "but how often do you read in the paper about a crooked cop being arrested? Or lawyers? Or judges? It happens! People in this world are corrupt and they take all sorts of civil service jobs!"

"Ok, both of you relax," Mike interceded. "Micky, take this stuff into Sarah and take care of her."

"I'll talk to Davy," Peter said following Davy as he stormed the rest of the way up the stairs. Davy slammed the door behind him, but Peter just opened it and followed him in.

"If you're just going to tell me how wrong I am, just leave now," Davy snapped.

"Yes and no," Peter said. "But either way, I'm not leaving. Look, I understand why you're upset. The whole thing bugs me a little, too. I can't imagine a doctor doing anything like that either, but I also trust Mike and Micky. And I know you do, too. What's really bugging you?"

"I don't know," Davy said. "Something feels weird about all this."

"What do you mean?" Peter asked.

"Doesn't it seem weird to you that Micky is going so far out of his way to help this girl?" Davy asked.

"No," Peter answered. "It's the right thing. You can't tell me that if you found a girl in the middle of nowhere needing help you'd just walk away."

"No, but I'd take her to a hospital," Davy answered.

"Mike said she freaked out over going to the hospital," Peter answered.

"How exactly does Micky know what to do?" Davy asked. "If she really has the kinds of injuries Micky says she does, she belongs in a hospital. How can Micky expect to be able to take care of her better than a hospital?"

"I don't know, Davy," Peter answered. "But Mike agrees with him. And that says enough for me. Mike is always the responsible one, right? Mike is always the voice of reason. If Mike says she's ok to stay here, then I believe him. Yes, I think it's weird Micky knows what to do, but maybe he's helped deliver babies or something before we met him. He doesn't really talk about his past ever. Just that he was born and raised here." Davy didn't answer right away; he sat on the edge of Mike's bed and stared at his shoes.

"If a doctor could really do this to a person..." Davy said finally. "What does that mean about the world we live in. I think I just don't want to believe it. If it's true..."

"I know, Davy," Peter said. "I don't like to think there are people like that out there any more than you do, but there are."

"I've never heard anything like this before," Davy said.

"Yeah, well, Mike likes to hide that stuff from us," Peter said. "You ever notice how he changes the channel when the news starts getting dark and how he usually throws away the whole paper except the want ads and stuff about gigs?"

"I thought he just didn't like hearing about that stuff," Davy said.

"Peter's right," Mike said in the doorway. "I was trying to hide it from you. You guys don't need to know how evil the world can really be."

"Well you can't hide it from us anymore," Peter said.

"I'm sorry, Mike," Davy said. "I didn't mean to snap; I just don't want to believe a doctor could really hurt someone like that. Doctors are supposed to be there to help us. We're supposed to be able to trust them."

"I know, Davy," Mike answered. "And most are trustworthy, but there's always one or two bad apples in the bunch."

"How mad is Micky at me?" Davy asked.

"He'll be fine," Mike said. "You can talk to him in the morning. He's just more concerned for Sarah right now. For now, why don't you guys get settled in for bed. It's getting late." Once Peter was assured that Davy had calmed down a little, Peter went to start getting ready for bed. He checked in a little on Sarah and Micky to find Micky softly washing her arms. Micky looked upset, but Peter thought it best to just leave him alone so he just walked upstairs to tell Davy he could jump in the shower now. When Davy had finished his shower, they drew short straws to see who would sleep on the floor and who would get Micky's bed. Peter cheated a little and made sure that he drew his straw really short to make sure Davy would get the bed. Mike however came in and told Peter to crash on his bed for the night because Mike was going to just crash on the couch in case Micky needed anything in the night. Mike left before Peter could argue so Peter crawled into Mike's bed and drifted off rather quickly.

Peter woke up hearing screams and nearly fell out of Mike's bed. He heard a thud as Davy jumped up and tripped over Micky's boots to get to the door. Peter stopped long enough to help Davy up and the two raced down the stairs. Sarah was screaming inside their room and by the time they got there, she was fighting Mike and Micky off as they tried to calm her down. Her arms flailed around and she actually managed to punch Mike in the shoulder and Micky in the face as she screamed for them to get off her and leave her alone.

"Sarah, calm down," Micky said sitting on the edge of her bed next to her. "It's me; it's Micky. It's just us. Calm down."

"Get off me!" Sarah screamed.

"Relax, Sarah," Mike pled. Peter and Davy weren't sure what to do, but Peter tried to rush in and hold her arms so she wouldn't hit Mike and Davy again.

"No!" Mike exclaimed as soon as Peter reached out for Sarah's wrists. "Don't touch her wrists. That'll make it worse."

"Sarah," Micky said over Mike. "It was a nightmare, ok. It was a nightmare. It's over. Look at me. It's over. It was just a dream." Sarah stopped and looked at Micky for a second frozen in fear. Suddenly, relief washed over her face for a split second before she crumpled into Micky's arms and began sobbing. Mike closed his eyes and let out a long breath in relief before moving to shoo Davy and Peter out of the room.

"She'll be ok now," Mike said. "She just had a nightmare. Sorry it woke you guys up. Head back to bed."

"It's morning," Davy mumbled looking at the sun coming up outside. "Might as well just start the day. I can make some breakfast for her." Peter didn't say anything; he stared at Micky holding Sarah for a moment. He was rocking her back and forth like a child and he had started singing a song to her while rubbing one hand over her back and the other caressing her hair. She was still sobbing, but Peter could tell Micky was singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", which he thought was a little odd; it was almost like something you would sing to a child who was scared. Peter understood now how Davy felt there was something weird going on with the girl. That wasn't exactly the song he would choose to sing in order to calm someone down, but for some reason, Micky had chosen it and it seemed to be working.


	4. Secrets Revealed

Author's Note: Please review! Let me know what you like and what you don't!

Chapter 4: Secrets Revealed

Mike followed Davy and Peter out of the room leaving Micky alone with Sarah for a few moments. When he realized Peter was lingering behind, he gave him a gentle push forward. He heard the song Micky was singing to Sarah and thought it a little strange, but ignored it. Whatever helped to keep her calm and relaxed was fine by him. Davy started rifling through the cupboards looking for something to make, but all they had was a little bit of pancake mix left.

"I can make this," Davy said. "But I think it'll only make a few. Not enough for everyone."

"That's fine," Mike said. "I can run out to the store real fast. We have a little bit of emergency money left."

"What do we do after that?" Peter asked.

"I guess I'll have to call my aunt," Mike sighed.

"Aunt Kate?" Davy asked starting to mix the pancakes.

"Yeah," Mike answered heavily. "She told me that since we helped out with the oil, if we ever needed any money, to just ask. I never wanted to before now, but it seems we're pretty stuck." Peter opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when they all heard a very urgent knock on the door. Mike crossed the room to look through the small opening in the door to see who was behind it; he wasn't sure it was a good idea to let anyone in with Sarah there. A woman stood on the other side of the door with her arms across her chest. Mike noticed she was extremely beautiful, but he didn't recognize her. She had long dark brown hair that hung in waves around her face framing it perfectly and her green eyes sparkled in the morning sunlight.

"I need to speak with you," the woman said seeing Mike through the slat.

"Well, we're a little busy right now," Mike said. "Can you come back later?"

"Sorry, I can't," the woman said taking something out of her pocket. "LAPD. Please let me in. It's imperative."

"The cops!?" Davy asked.

"What do we do?" Peter said.

"Relax," Mike hissed at them before turning back to the woman who was now flashing a police badge. "I'm very sorry, but we aren't up for company."

"Sir, if you don't let me in now, there will be several other cops coming here within a few hours to search the premises," the woman said. Mike thought for a moment about what she said and the woman looked serious.

"Alright, give me one second," Mike said before turning to whisper to Davy and Peter. "Go warn Micky and then come back out carefully."

"But..." Davy said.

"Just do it," Mike hissed. "Trust me." Davy nodded and went into the room with Sarah and Micky before Mike opened the door.

"Detective Matthews," she said by way of introducing herself.

"Michael Nesmith," Mike answered. "What is this about?"

"I'm looking for Michael Dolenz," she said.

"He's a little ill," Mike said just as Davy walked out of the room shutting the door behind him before the detective saw the woman in the room. "Davy's looking after him right now."

"I think I can manage a little cold," the woman said walking toward the room. Mike walked in front of her to stop her.

"It's a little more than that," Mike said firmly. "He's actually very ill. It's why I said no visitors. Now do you mind telling me what this is all about?"

"A woman disappeared from a psychiatric hospital last night," she answered. "We spoke to the people in the area who reported that you two were there around the time of her disappearance."

"Really?" Mike shrugged. "We don't know anything about that."

"Were you there?" she asked.

"Yes, but we were just dropping off donations to the church," Mike answered. "We don't know anything about a woman disappearing from the hospital. Now, I really have to ask you to leave."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen," she smiled. "How about you let me look around?"

"I told you," Mike said getting irritated this woman wasn't leaving, "Micky is very, very sick."

"The pastor I spoke to didn't mention anything about him being sick," she said.

"It was very sudden," Peter volunteered.

"Sure," she smiled sarcastically.

"Why would we lie?" Davy asked. Mike had to admit he was a little worried about Davy spilling the beans and coming clean to the cop about Sarah since last night he was a little skeptical about the whole thing.

"Micky!" the woman shouted.

"Hey!" Peter exclaimed jumping up from the table. "He's sick! Leave him alone!"

"I doubt that," she smiled before shouting again. "Michael Dolenz, get out here right now or I will come in there kicking and screaming!"

"Will you stop shouting!?" Mike exclaimed hoping that Micky would stay in the room. He didn't, however. Mike turned and groaned when Micky yanked the door open and charged out of the room.

"Must you yell?" Micky demanded closing the door behind him.

"Hello to you, too, Micky," the woman said. "I had to get your attention somehow to get out here."

"What are you doing here?" Micky asked.

"Oh, it's so lovely to see you again, Micky," the woman said sarcastically again. "Me? I'm fine. You?"

"Cute," Micky laughed.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Mike asked.

"Yes," Micky answered hastily before turning back to her. "What are you doing here, Rose?"

"You were seen in the vicinity of a psychiatric hospital last night when a woman escaped," the woman said. "My bosses seem to think you know something about it and want to come down here to talk to you. I pulled a lot of strings to come talk to you alone first to get your side. This woman is very, very ill."

"What makes you think we even know anything?" Mike asked.

"According to her doctors, she was too sick to get very far on her own," she answered. "She escaped a few hours before you dropped off your donations and were the only ones seen in the area. We combed the entire area and couldn't find her, which means someone must have helped her."

"Yeah, let me ask you something," Micky started. "How long after she escaped did her doctors report her missing?"

"They didn't notice for a few hours," she answered. "When they went to give her food and her nightly medication. She wasn't in her room."

"Or she was tied up in the basement," Micky said.

"Micky!" Mike warned not sure why Micky was telling her the truth.

"And how do you know she was tied in the basement?" she asked. "Did she tell you? She's very sick, Micky."

"And how do you know that?" Micky retorted. "Did you talk to her doctors?"

"My partner did," she answered.

"Do you even know anything about this girl?" Micky asked.

"Micky, are you hiding her or not?" she asked.

"Wanna tell me what you know first?" Micky countered.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," she said angrily.

"Look, Rose," Micky sighed. "Before you get really mad, tell me honestly what you know about her. Did they even show you what she looks like? Her name? Anything?"

"Her name is Sarah Michaels," Rose answered. "Her parents noticed she was starting to get paranoid and took her to the doctor. They diagnosed her as paranoid schizophrenic with extremely violent tendencies and they committed her to the hospital 5 years ago."

"5 years ago?" Peter echoed. "She's been in that hospital for five years!? How did she get pregnant?"

"What?" Rose asked as Davy and Mike both turned on Peter for opening his mouth.

"Peter!" they exclaimed in unison.

"She's pregnant?" Rose asked.

"She was," Micky explained opening the door to the room. "Why don't you take a look." Rose peered inside and looked at Sarah.

"Sarah," Rose breathed as though something dawned on her. "I didn't realize...It's such a common name."

"Believe me now?" Micky asked.

"Ok, Micky, what's going on?" Mike asked. "Who is this woman? And why do I suddenly get the feeling that you both also know Sarah."

"Because I do," Micky answered heavily. "We sort of grew up together."

"Oh," Mike answered. Knowing not to push the subject further in front of Davy and Peter, he changed the subject to how he knew Rose. "And Rose?"

"We grew up together, too," Rose answered.

"Rose, you can't let them find her," Micky said. "They were right about her being very hurt."

"They said she tried to kill herself," Sarah answered.

"She didn't," Micky said. "They got her pregnant and when she wouldn't go into labor, they tied her in the basement as punishment. When she finally gave birth, they took the baby from her and left her there to die. She escaped and we found her in the orchard naked and bleeding."

"I don't know what I can do, Micky," Rose answered. "My boss already sees you as a prime suspect in this."

"You have to do something," Micky pled.

"I..I.." Rose stuttered. "I'll call him and see what I can do. I'll tell him that..I already interrogated you and that you know nothing."

"Will he believe that?" Mike asked. "She can't go back to that hospital. They did this to her."

"It'll have to work," Rose answered. "Micky, is she going to be ok? Can you help her?"

"I don't really have much of a choice," Micky said. "I can't take her to the hospital or they'll just send her back to the psychiatric hospital. She's hurt pretty bad, malnourished and dehydrated, but I think with enough rest, she'll be fine."

"Let me know if you need anything," Rose said.

"Wait just a second," Peter said firmly startling all of them.

"What?" Mike asked.

"I think Davy and I deserve some firm answers," Peter said.

"Peter..." Micky started.

"No," Davy said. "I agree. No skirting around. No trying to protect us."

"They don't know anything?" Rose asked.

"No," Mike answered. "They deserve better than to worry about this kind of stuff when they go to bed at night."

"Be that as it may," Rose started, "you should tell them. I don't know what kind of backlash this is going to bring. And not just from the cops. You sort this all out; I'm going to talk to my boss." Mike and Micky looked at each other for a long while as Rose walked out the front door. Mike sighed finally knowing that Rose was probably right. If the doctors had reported this girl missing, they were going to look for her. And while he didn't know who the doctors where that hurt his girl, he knew enough about these types of people to know they'd kill anyone in their way to get Sarah back. And that meant that Peter and Davy were now directly in the line of fire. It wouldn't be fair to hide anything from them now.

"What do you want to know?" Micky asked moving to sit down in the living room, clearly preparing for a long explanation.

"What happened to this girl?" Davy asked. "How do you seem to know how to take care of her? And what are the both of you hiding from us?"

"It's complicated," Micky sighed. "Mike's father and my parents sort of...worked together."

"Worked together?" Davy asked.

"They were best friends," Mike added. "Probably still are."

"Probably?" Davy asked.

"We don't talk to them," Mike said. "They're bad people. Like the doctors that hurt Sarah."

"That's why I know what to do for her," Micky said. "I saw it all growing up."

"I don't understand, if she has been in the hospital for 5 years, how did she even get pregnant?" Peter asked.

"Obviously someone raped her, Peter," Mike answered feeling a strong sense of guilt at the look of horror and despair on his friends face. He had been fighting so hard to keep Davy and Peter out of all of this. He didn't want them to know that a world like that really existed, let alone that he and Micky had come from that world.


	5. A Terrible Lesson

Author's Note: This is a very violent chapter. There is also a lot of language.

Chapter 5: A Terrible Lesson

_**5 years prior**_

"Michael!" a man barked startling Mike out of his thoughts.

"What?" Mike asked trying to cover his annoyance; it was a very bad idea to make this man angry.

"Excuse me?" the man asked.

"Sorry," Mike answered forgetting the cardinal rule. "Yes, sir? What do you need?"

"Come with me," the man said. "I need to show you something."

"Yes, sir," Mike answered although he really was irritated. He hated this man he was now following, but he had to do as he said. This man was his father and Mike was still too young to do what he wanted. That would end soon, though.

"You'll be 18 soon, Michael," his father said ahead of him. "In just a month. And then you'll be able to do what you want."

"Yes, sir," Mike answered unsure of where this conversation was going.

"As much as I would be proud to have you take on the family business, you've made it abundantly clear you are not worthy," his father continued. Mike fought the urge to scoff at his father knowing that if he said he wanted nothing more to do with this man he'd be punished for his insubordination. It wasn't that Mike wasn't worthy; it was that he despised everything his father stood for. His father stopped in front of the door to the basement of their very large house and turned on Mike, eyes boring into Mike's skull. "But I need to know that what you have learned is going to be kept confidential. So you are going to learn what it means if you misbehave."

"Sir?" Mike asked suddenly afraid he was going to be punished anyway; just to remind Mike to be silent once he had the freedom to leave and legally be on his own. He really didn't need any other reminders to keep silent about the things his father did. He had plenty of opportunities to tell someone about it, but all the threats and punishments he received as a child always made him too afraid. His father wouldn't even let him go to school until he was sure that Mike was going to keep quiet. Did his father now want to make extra sure Mike would stay silent once on his own and away from his father's control?

"I want you to know what will happen if you disobey me," his father said opening the door and indicating Mike should go down first. Mike hesitantly obeyed as his father continued. "I want you to know that I will always be able to find you if I have to."

"I promise I won't say anything, sir," Mike tried once he'd reached the bottom of the stairwell.

"I need to be sure," his father answered. The room was set-up as it normally was. The house itself could easily be taken as a mansion; with several rooms consisting of dining and formal rooms, living rooms, and bedrooms. Each bedroom was not reserved for just one person, however, but multiple. And they were not there of their own free will. Each door had been made of solid steel and bolted closed with steel locks. Windows were welded shut and made of glass so thick it was impenetrable making escape impossible. There were at least 2-3 people locked in each of these rooms at any given time. These were the things he wasn't allowed to talk about.

The basement was a special place in the house. If someone needed to be punished for something, they'd be taken to the basement. In the center of the basement was a steel chair with metallic restraints. Mike had been in that very chair himself several times and knew what happened in that chair. It was cleaned regularly, but you could still make out several spots with blood stains; some of which were undoubtedly his own. On the far wall were iron shackles that people could be restrained in when they either had to wait their turn or watch. People were often made to watch so they would learn what could happen to them if they misbehaved. Mike hated this room; he felt sick just standing in it.

"Stand in the corner," his father instructed. Mike did as he was told and waited in the corner with his father. He stood there nervously for only a couple of minutes before the door to the basement opened and Mike heard the familiar sounds of someone being dragged down the stairs. This person wasn't really fighting like most of the others did, however. At the bottom of the bottom of the stairs Mike could see two burly men dragging a skinnier young boy in between them towards the chair. Mike thought he recognized the boy and one of the men, but couldn't place them. A woman followed closely behind with a cold look on her face who looked oddly familiar as well.

Mike got a better view of the boy as they shoved him in the chair and closed the restraints around him. He looked incredibly thin, as though he hadn't eaten a decent meal in months and his skin was pale against the black shirt he wore. His hair was long and full of brown messy waves. His brown eyes looked almost empty, but still somewhat defiant. He couldn't have been more than 16 years old. Mike dreaded what was about to happen to this young boy.

"Simon," one of the men who'd been carrying the boy said to Mike's father. "Nice to see you again. I thank you for the use of your home."

"Don't mention it, Chucky," his father smiled. "You remember my son?"

"Of course," Chucky smiled at Mike making him feel sick. Suddenly Mike remembered where he'd seen this man before. He and his father were friends, but they hadn't had much contact with each other. They were both in the same line of work and had met because of that when they were younger. As a boy, Mike had met Chucky a few times and always hated him as much as he hated his own father. The boy in the chair was Chucky's son, Micky, and the woman was his wife and the boy's mother, Claire. They lived in Los Angeles, however, so Mike briefly wondered what they were doing here in Texas.

"I brought him here to show him what could happen if he misbehaves," Simon said. "He needs to see what happens to traitors. He'll be 18 soon and on his own."

"Fine by me," Chucky said. "But were it me, I'd just kill the boy."

"Yes, but that would attract too much attention to us," Simon answered. "But this will teach him to keep his mouth shut. You see, Michael, Micky was a very bad boy and did a very bad thing and now he's going to pay for it." Mike really didn't want to watch this, but he had a feeling he didn't have a choice.

"That's right," Chucky said standing in front of the boy now fully restrained in the chair. "Micky here ran away. I gave him a little bit of freedom, and he betrayed it. Took a few of my girls with him."

"And I'd do it again," Micky spat.

"Shut up," Claire spat as Chucky landed a good hard blow to the side of Micky's head. Micky hissed in pain and Mike recoiled a little. He really didn't want to see any of this, but knew if he tried to leave he'd be punished, too.

"Now he's going to tell us where he hid those girls," Chucky said keeping his fist clenched.

"Now why would I do that?" Micky sneered. "So you can kidnap them again and force them to star in your sick fucking videos again? Not a chance in hell." Mike winced knowing what was happening now. These men were truly evil people. The people his father kept in those steel enclosed rooms were young women and men that were forced to star in videos or pose for pictures that were sold to other sick and twisted people like them. The victims were forced to rape each other or were raped by Mike's father. Mike so often wished he could do something to help them, but he never once saw an opportunity to help them escape. He had an older brother who spoke to the police once, but the cops didn't believe him. His father was a respected lawyer and his brother was never seen again; the police assumed he just ran away, but Mike knew better.

Mike remembered one woman who escaped with the help of one of the other prisoners when he was around 5 or so. They hadn't even made it to the police station before they had been dragged back into this very basement and tortured before they were killed. Mike had often thought that he didn't care about dying if it meant he could save one of these people, after all, what could he really offer the world coming from a man like his father? But he was too afraid that they'd be discovered and killed. So he had never even tried, as much as he wanted to. This boy had, and had apparently succeeded. At least partially.

"You're going to tell me where you hid them because I told you to," Chucky sneered. "And if you don't, well..." Chucky smacked Micky on the side of the head again.

"Go to hell," Micky spat as blood trickled out of a cut on his cheek. Chucky frowned and hit Micky again hard enough to rock the entire chair.

"Where are they, Micky?" Chucky growled. Micky looked at his father defiantly and didn't respond. Chucky crossed over to a trunk below the stairwell and pulled out a baseball bat. Mike took a few steps backward knowing that no one was planning on playing baseball.

"Come on, Micky," his mother said. "Are they really this important to you?"

"They're safe from you," Micky answered. "That's all that matters to me. It's going to stay that way."

"You're really willing to endure all this for a couple of whores?" Claire scoffed.

"Don't call them that," Micky spat.

"You like one of them, don't you, boy?" Chucky asked. Micky remained silent but Mike noticed his eyes flick to the ground for just a second.

"You do?" Claire asked. "You're in love with one of them? Which one? Which whore did you fall in love with?"

"Shut up, bitch," Micky growled. Chucky swung the bat making contact with Micky's shoulder. Micky cried out in pain as the chair rocked a little. Mike looked away for a second as he heard a popping noise come from the boys' shoulder, but his own father hit him in the back of the head.

"Watch and learn, Michael," his father sneered.

"Don't you dare speak to your mother like that!" Chucky roared.

"That's alright, Chucky," Claire said. "I've heard worse from better."

"It doesn't really matter which one he fell for," Chucky continued. "He will tell us where they are. Eventually."

"No," Micky said firmly. "I won't."

"Tell me, Micky," Claire said walking around behind the chair. "You fell for her and decided to set her free, is that it?"

"I'm not telling you a damn thing," Micky said defiantly staring at his father. Claire put her hands on his shoulders as if to rub them, but when she squeezed the shoulder Chucky had just hit, Micky hissed in pain again.

"Be a good boy for once in your life," Claire whispered. "Do what mommy says."

"I'd sooner die," Micky answered through gritted teeth.

"Be careful what you wish for," Chucky smiled. "We will find them, you know. If you tell us where they are, it'll be easier on them."

"No, it won't," Micky answered. "And you'll never find them."

"We found you," Claire said finally letting go.

"I let you find me," Micky spat. "To give them time to run somewhere where you'll never find them. I didn't tell them where to go, and they didn't tell me where they were going. So I really don't even know where they are. But even if I did, I still wouldn't tell you." Chucky sighed heavily and threw the bat on the ground.

"I can tell we're going to need the big guns for this," Chucky said walking back over to the trunk. Micky looked at Mike as Chucky sifted through the trunk looking for something. Mike tried to tell this boy that he should just do what they said knowing full well the pain Micky would soon be in by not talking. But Micky had an ever defiant look in his eye; he really wasn't going to say anything even though he also seemed to know what would happen to him.

"Pretty," Claire said admiring the long, intricate knife Chucky had extricated from the trunk.

"This is going to hurt, Micky," Chucky said walking back over to his son. Micky tore his eyes away from Mike's and braced himself for even more pain. Mike desperately wanted to do something, but he couldn't. He was outnumbered; 4 to 1. The man who had helped Chucky drag Micky down the stairs was standing firmly in front of the base of the stairwell now, blocking Mike's only possible escape route. All he could do was stand and watch.

Chucky brought the knife down to Micky's chin and held it for a moment trying to intimidate Micky. But Micky's eyes flashed with anger instead of fear. Chucky grabbed the front of Micky's shirt and cut down it, exposing Micky's bare chest to the blade. Mike could see clearly see the ribs under Micky's skin showing just how thin he really was. Claire ripped the rest of Micky's shirt off his shoulders and threw the now tattered rag aside. His shoulder looked out of place and the skin was already turning a deep shade of purple and green.

"You don't have to go through this, Micky," Claire whispered.

"I won't let you touch them again," Micky said firmly. "You think I care what happens to me? Go ahead. Do your worst."

"You think these girls would show you the same favor, Micky?" Chucky asked pressing the tip of the knife into Micky's good shoulder. "Were they in the same position they'd squeal like little pigs."

"That won't work," Micky said. "You can't try and psych me out. They won't, but I don't care if they'd sing songs about me. I'm not going to let you anywhere near them."

"What's so important about them?" Claire asked staring at Micky. "Other than you being in love with one of them."

"Shut up," Micky spat.

"She was pregnant, wasn't she?" Claire asked. Micky was silent and stared at the ground.

"I should have known," Chucky laughed pushing the blade into Micky's shoulder slowly. "Why else would you risk your life and theirs if not for a baby? Which one was it?"

"The brunette," Claire answered. "Rose. She was throwing up an awful lot. Am I right, Micky? Is she the one you fell for, or the blonde? Sarah?"

"You'll never find them and you'll never find that baby," Micky said. "I don't give a shit what you do to me. That baby is safe. You'll never be able to touch it. You'll never corrupt that baby like you did me. Like you did Rose and everyone else you've touched."

"You're risking everything for a little brat!?" Claire exclaimed. "You don't even know if that child is yours!"

"I really don't care," Micky answered. Chucky growled a little and pushed the blade in even further. Micky hissed in pain and Mike could tell he was trying not to cry out. Mike's mind raced. Mike was never forced to participate in any of the movies his father made, but he had been forced to watch several times when Simon had tried teaching him the "business". Had Micky not been spared the same fate? Had Micky actually been forced to participate in the movies? Mike felt sick to his stomach at the thought that someone could do that to their own son. Torturing was bad enough.

"You little shithead!" Chucky yelled. If he could, Mike had no doubt Chucky would be foaming at the mouth. "Did you think you'd be the hero? That you'd swoop in and save those girls and that baby? Run off with them and all live happily ever after as one big happy family? This isn't a movie! This is real life! You WILL tell me where those girls are AND the child."

"I already told you," Micky answered. "No. I. Won't." Chucky glared at Micky and twisted the knife inside Micky's shoulder. Micky couldn't stop himself this time; he screamed in pain. Claire smiled seeming to enjoy the sound of her own son screaming in agony. Mike couldn't help himself either anymore.

"Stop it! Leave him alone!" he yelled and tried lunging toward Micky. His father caught him by the shoulder and threw him back down on the ground. He was thrown with such force that his face hit the hard floor despite the fact he tried to break his fall with his arms outstretched.

"Michael, don't be stupid!" Simon snapped as Mike tasted blood on his lip.

"I'll leave him alone when he does what I want him to, boy," Chucky snapped. Simon yanked Mike back up and held onto his arm. Mike was fighting back tears for the boy. He couldn't do anything to help him no matter how much he wanted to. Mike and Micky's eyes met again and Mike saw regret there; but something told him it wasn't regret for saving those girls. It was regret that they were forcing Mike to watch this. Mike wasn't sure why since there really was nothing Micky could do to keep them from forcing Mike to watch. Mike believed Micky when he said that he really didn't even know where they were, so he couldn't have told them anything anyway.

"Why don't you just kill me?" Micky asked. "Otherwise we'll be here all night because I really don't care what you do to me."

"You see, Micky, everyone has their breaking point," Claire said. "That point where they can no longer tolerate the pain and they break down."

"Yeah, I don't have that point," Micky said. "You destroyed that in me a long time ago. Do you know how many times I've already tried to kill myself? There's nothing you can do to me now that you haven't already done at some other point in my life. Really. So why don't you stop wasting your energy and just finish it."

"You really believe that?" Claire said walking closer to him. "One thing you forget about me, Micky, I like pushing people to that point." Claire pushed the heel of her hand against the wound Chucky's knife had made causing him to cry out in pain again. Mike couldn't take it anymore; he dropped to his knees and threw up.

"Control yourself, Michael," Simon laughed.

"Please," Mike breathed, "just leave him alone."

"Get him out of here, Simon," Chucky said. "If the boy can't take it, he shouldn't be here."

"He can take it," Simon answered. "He needs to see this. He needs to know what will happen if he pulls any shit like this."

"Fine, but no more interference from him," Chucky said.

"Don't worry," Simon answered. "There won't be if he knows what's good for him." Mike looked up at Micky again who looked bleary from the amount of pain he was in. Yet he still tried to appear strong through it.

"I won't ask you again, Micky," Chucky said turning back to him and brandishing the knife. "Where are they?"

"You really wanna know?" Micky whispered. "Come here." Chucky hesitated, but leaned in closer to Micky's face. Mike watched horrified as Micky spit in his father's face causing the man to roar in anger. Chucky buried the knife blade deep into Micky's shoulder and snatched up the baseball bat still lying on the floor. He began swinging wildly; first at Micky's legs and then his chest before finally landing a blow to Micky's head.

"Stop!" Claire exclaimed pushing Chucky away from Micky. "You'll kill him! We need him alive if we're going to find those girls!" But from what Mike could see, it was already too late. The boy was slumped in the chair lifelessly; his right leg twisted in the wrong direction and blood streaming down the side of his face.


	6. Escape Plan

Author's Note: Please, if you like this, tell me! Review it! More reviews gives me more incentive to write faster! Sorry the chapter is so long. I really didn't want to break it up. I wanted to cram even more in here, but I guess I'll have to save that for the next chapter.

Chapter 6: Escape Plan

_**5 years 6 months ago**_

"Drink this," Micky said sitting on the edge of the bed Rose was sitting on. She smiled at him and rubbed her swollen belly.

"Thanks," Rose answered taking the glass of water Micky held out to her.

"How are you holding up?" Micky asked.

"I'm ok," Rose answered. "Considering." Micky smiled feeling relieved. Rose was about 8 months pregnant and they were hiding out in an abandoned church rectory. He had managed to escape from his parents with Rose and Sarah with careful planning. He had overheard his father discussing plans with his boss for a transfer. His father had tried getting out of it, but he couldn't. His father was a prominent federal agent and his mother a top surgeon at the local hospital. She didn't want to move any more than Micky's father did, but the decision had come from the very top to transfer his father and there was no way out of it short of quitting.

So Micky had taken immediate action when he discovered the date and time of when his father was planning on leaving. He had mapped out the route they'd take and the time it would take to get there. He knew from previous trips how often and when his father liked to stop for a bathroom or food break, so he plotted those on a map, making sure to hide it in a secret compartment he'd built in his room whenever he wasn't there. He hadn't learned how to drive, so he confided in a teacher at school he trusted. He didn't tell the teacher everything, but enough to convince the teacher to teach him how to drive during his lunch hour and study hall class every day since he didn't have much time to learn. He had gotten a kid at school to sign him in for study hall every day so his parents wouldn't find out he was skipping class in exchange for doing the kid's science project.

He'd packed a few items in a suitcase he knew they'd need and hid it at the school where no one would find it. Then he'd worked hard to buy an old beat up van from another kid asking him to park it with the keys in the ignition at a hotel along the route he knew his father would take knowing that would be the most likely hotel his father would stop at halfway through the trip. He didn't have a job and his parents never gave him money, so he'd ended up going to one of his father's clients one day to work for the money. He didn't have to mow the lawn or clean the house or other things like that a normal boy would do for money, but he knew what he had done would be worth it no matter how disgusted it made him.

Rose was pregnant and he couldn't allow his parents to destroy that baby's life like they had his. He would and had done whatever it took to keep this baby away from them. He didn't know if the baby was his or his fathers or someone else's. His parents had frequently drugged him and made him perform in their home movies, but other times they just raped the girls themselves. He had a few older brothers that were just as messed up as his father and had willingly participated in not only kidnapping new girls for his father over the years, but in raping them as well. There were numerous people who could have fathered her baby, but that didn't mean that it should suffer the same kind of life he had. He had to protect it before more damage was done across the generations.

Once everything had been set into place, he looked on maps for various different places they could hide out and marked them. He then stored the maps for these places in with the suitcase full of the things they would need and asked the person he'd bought the van from to place the suitcase in the back of the van. He knew it would make running easier if he didn't have to lug the suitcase with them or try and hide it; Micky's father went through everything Micky ever packed for trips. Micky had even managed to stash some of the pills his father gave him when he couldn't sleep.

So when his father had indeed pulled into the very hotel parking lot Micky had ensured the van was stashed, Micky's excitement had grown. He managed to slip a few of the pills they gave to knock Micky out into his parents whiskey they drank every day before bed so they'd be sound asleep when Micky snuck out. To ensure Micky and the others didn't run away, they had taken to handcuffing them to their bed posts and other sturdy poles in the hotel room. Knowing this, Micky had carefully concealed a key he'd managed to swipe from his father in his mouth. After they had fallen asleep finally, Micky popped the key out of his mouth and held it between his teeth. It had taken longer than he'd expected it to, but he finally had managed to get the key in the hole. Turning it had been easier and when he heard the click and felt the handcuffs release on his wrists, he had checked to make sure his parents were still out.

Once he had been sure his parents were still out cold, Micky had carefully slipped over to Rose and Sarah, the only two victims left alive to bring on the trip with them. He had neglected to tell them his entire plan in case Micky's parents found out and interrogated them; the less they knew about this, the better it would have been on them. He had told them only that he was working on a way to keep them both safe. Micky had carefully woken Rose up first making sure she stayed quiet so as not to wake his parents. Once she was free of her handcuffs, he had moved to Sarah. She had moaned a little, but Micky had held his hand over her mouth and put a finger up to his mouth to silence her. Once they'd realized what Micky had been planning, they stayed silent and followed him out of the room. But not before he'd managed to steal as much money as he could find from his parents since they preferred to keep cash on hand. They'd made it to the van without his parents waking up and had put as much distance between them as possible.

It was now at least 5 months later and they'd been hiding in various places not wanting to stay in one place too long for fear of being found. But that had also meant they had barely ever seen the world; just the inside of whatever hiding place they'd squirreled away in. Micky had made sure to take care of Rose as best he could with the supplies he'd packed before hand. He used some of the cash he stole from his parents to pay for food for them and fresh water, but because they couldn't go out much or cook, they still often went hungry. Micky made sure most of the food they did manage to get a hold of went to Rose and Sarah.

"I'll feel a lot better once this is over," Rose continued taking another sip of water.

"It'll be over soon," Micky answered. "You have another month left."

"Of the pregnancy, yes," Rose answered.

"What does that mean?" Micky asked. Rose looked away for a moment, a look of despair engulfing her face. "Rose, what's the matter. You've always been able to talk to me."

"What happens when the baby's born?" she asked but didn't wait for an answer. "We keep running. We keep hiding. What kind of a life is that?"

"I know it's hard, but they'll eventually give up," Micky said. "We can get far enough away where they'll never be able to find us and we can start over. Mabye go to Canada or Mexico; but I don't want to do too much travelling until the baby is born."

"We'll always be looking over our shoulders, Micky," she said. "No matter how far we go, no matter how long it takes. We'll never feel safe from them."

"Rose..." Micky sighed. He knew what she was saying was true, but what other choice did they have? They could go to the police, but no one would ever believe them. His father had joined the police force at a young age fresh out of the military and had risen through the ranks quickly. Then he'd accepted a position with the FBI catching murderers and other men like him. He was well respected and no one would think he could commit such atrocities. His mother's situation was similar. She'd been born into a family full of politicians and had become a top surgeon very quickly.

"You said you'd support me in whatever decision I made with this baby, right?" Rose asked.

"Of course," Micky answered. "You said you wanted to keep it. Are you thinking of giving it up?"

"Yes, but I don't..." Rose trailed off.

"You don't know what?" Micky asked.

"Would you be ok with that?" Rose asked.

"Of course I would," Micky answered. "It's your baby, Rose."

"It may be yours, too," Rose said.

"I don't think we'll ever know that for sure," Micky answered. "Whatever you want to do, I'm fine with."

"I'm scared," Rose admitted.

"Scared of what?" Micky said. "I've done this before. I've delivered babies. My mom taught me."

"Not of that," Rose said. "I trust you. I...I'm scared of giving the baby up. I don't know who to trust. You're dad's FBI, you're mom's a doctor, you grandfather was a mayor or something and your other grandfather was a priest. How can I trust anyone to raise my child right knowing people we're supposed to be able to trust can easily be evil? To love it the right way? To not let the same thing happen to it that happened to me? That's the whole reason we're doing all this, isn't it? I can tolerate living a life constantly looking over my shoulder, but not if I also have to be worried it was all for nothing. I need to know my baby will be safe."

"What if I told you there was someone I could trust back home," Micky said. "In LA. Someone that I know would make sure the baby stayed safe. Would you feel better then?"

"We'd have to go all the way back to LA," Rose said.

"Yes, but it would be worth it, don't you think?" Micky said.

"But that's their turf," she said. "Won't it be easier to find us? To find the baby?"

"It's not anymore," Micky answered. "They're moving to DC, remember? If they were going to look for us back home, they would have done it by now. I think we'll be safe. Besides, they don't even know about the baby."

"I don't know," Rose mumbled rubbing her stomach again.

"I've been thinking myself," Micky said with a heavy sigh. "And you're right. This is no way for you two to live. I think I have a way of making it so they are far away from both of you."

"Micky?" she asked looking worriedly at him.

"I lure them away," Micky said. "Once we drop off the baby with my friend, we split up and then I make myself known. They'll chase me and that will give you and Sarah enough time to start new lives."

"Micky, that would mean..." Rose said. "Micky, I can't ask you to do that."

"You aren't asking me to do anything," Micky said. "It's the only way to ensure you both and the baby are safe."

"You can't leave," Sarah said behind him making him jump a little.

"Sarah," Micky said getting up and walking over to her.

"You can't leave me, Micky," Sarah said angrily. "I need you."

"No, you don't," Micky said reaching out for her.

"Yes, I do," Sarah said backing away. "I need you, Micky. We both do. The baby needs you."

"Sarah, you're stronger than you give yourself credit for," Micky said pulling her to him. "You'll have each other, but Rose is right. The baby is better off being adopted. You have a family to get back to. Parents that love you and miss you."

"I'm not so sure about that," she said.

"Sarah, I'm sure they love you," Rose said.

"They ignored me all the time," Sarah said.

"Doesn't mean they don't love you," Micky said.

"My grandmother told me my mother wanted to give me away as a baby," Sarah said.

"I'm giving my baby away," Rose pointed out. "Because I love it. I want it to have a better life than what we can give."

"I don't want you to leave me, Micky," Sarah said. "I love you."

"I know," Micky said embracing her as tightly as he could. "I love you, too, but I have to do this."

"There has to be another way," Sarah said with tears soaking into his shirt.

"I'm sorry, Sarah," Micky said. "I'll try to think of another way, but I don't think there is. They'll always be looking for me. I'd never forgive myself if anything else happened to you."

"I can't lose you," Sarah whispered.

"I'll always be with you," Micky said. "As long as you love me. I'll always be with you."

* * *

The following day Micky was getting read to lie down and sleep as best as he could. He'd never really ever slept well, but since they'd managed to escape, it was even worse. But at least he could get a little sleep, if just an hour or two. The rectory they were staying in had 2 rooms in it and Micky was staying in the one down the hall from Rose and Sarah. He crossed to the foot of the bed and sat on it for a moment to reflect. He really didn't want to leave the two of them, but knew it really was the only way to protect them. All he'd thought about when he planned their escape was keeping the baby out of their grasp. He hadn't thought far enough ahead to know that they'd be living a life like this; running from one hideout to the next scraping for food and water. They really didn't deserve a life like this.

"Micky?" Sarah's voice came from the doorway of his room. Micky looked over at her and wiped his face quickly not realizing he'd let a few tears escape.

"Sarah," Micky said. "Go back to bed."

"No," Sarah said nervously. "I need...I wanted..."

"What?" Micky asked getting up and crossing over to her.

"If you're really leaving..." Sarah started, "If after this baby comes I'll never see you again...I need something from you first."

"What?" Micky asked softly. "Anything."

"I need to know how it feels," Sarah said looking straight into his eyes confidently now. "I need to be able to remember what it really feels like."

"How what feels?" Micky asked. Instead of answering directly, she leaned into him and kissed him heavily. Her hands immediately wrapped around his waist and she pulled him closer to her. He wrapped one hand around her waist and tangled the other in her hair to pull her to him as the kiss deepened. He felt her hand pull at his shirt tucked in his pants and he pulled away from her slightly leaning his forehead on hers.

"Sarah?" Micky breathed unsure of where she was going with this.

"I need to know how it feels to want it," Sarah breathed.

"What do you mean?" Micky asked starting to figure out what she wanted.

"Every time I've touched you..." Sarah started. "It's been under their control. It's been unwanted. By both of us. I've never been touched when I wanted it. When I was in control."

"Sarah, I don't want to hurt you," Micky said.

"That's just it, Micky," Sarah answered before reaching her hands up his shirt. "We're finally in a position to be with each other on our terms. Where it won't hurt. Where no one is watching. Where we can truly enjoy it." Micky opened his mouth to argue again, but she silenced him with another kiss. This time she pressed her hands into his chest. Her skin felt soft and warm against his. He wanted the same thing she wanted, but didn't want to push things with her. They'd both been through hell and he wasn't sure if she was ready for this.

She must have sensed his hesitation because she dropped her hands back to his hips. Her fingers slipped inside his waistband and pulled his hips to hers. Micky groaned inwardly feeling the heat coming from her entire body. He wanted nothing more than to take her and throw her on the bed right then and there, but still feared that despite what she was saying and doing, she wasn't ready and he couldn't hurt her like that. She was upset and scared; he couldn't take advantage of her like that.

"Micky, I'm sure about this," Sarah whispered in his ear sending a shiver down his spine. "I've thought about this for a while now. I need this, Micky. I want to really be with you. I'm ready for this. I promise."

"Are you really sure?" Micky pushed. She answered by pushing him back towards the bed. He fell backwards and quickly felt her lean on top of him to kiss him again. He tried to resist when she began unbuttoning his shirt, but when he felt her start to kiss his chest, he couldn't. He moaned a little when her hand moved down in between his legs. Even through his pants, he could still feel her soft tender hands caress him and every ounce of doubt left him. He pushed her off him just enough so he could roll over so he was now on top of her and when he slipped his own hand inside her shirt, her stomach quivered beneath his touch. She moaned into his mouth as he kissed her more passionately than he ever had before. He used his knee to separate her legs as he moved down to kiss her neck, one hand supporting himself above her and the other holding her waist.

When she moaned his name in his ear, it pushed his drive even further. He knelt above her long enough to unbutton her own shirt and remove it. He took a moment to admire her beneath him before leaning back over her to kiss her chest. He traced her bra with his lips as she worked with a certain desperation to take off his shirt. His hand moved down her hips to her legs and sat there, teasing her briefly. She moved her hips expertly so that his hand rested between her legs. Micky smiled at her impatience and knew that after everything, he was going to do this right. She needed to feel the passion and desire instead of everything else she had felt every other time they'd done this. She needed to remember him this way, not drugged and performing for a camera. She needed to feel loved.

She cried out softly when he slipped his hand down inside her pants with one hand while he continued to leave a trail of kisses all over her body. He started at her neck, then her collarbone before tracing her bra once again. He concentrated both on where he was kissing and what his hand was doing. Her clothing was loose enough that he could fit his hand comfortably in her underwear without taking them off. His thumb found her clit and she arched her back and whimpered a little. As he rubbed in little circles around her, he slipped first one finger inside her before adding another. She moaned his name once more and lifted her bra up with one hand while gripping his wavy hair with the other. Micky obliged and started kissing her breasts, softly bringing her nipples into his mouth.

"Oh God, Micky," she said breathlessly. Every time she moaned out his name, it sent him further towards the edge. He could hear the pleasure behind her voice. Not fear. He wanted it to last. He wanted to make her pleasure and passion stay with her for the rest of her life. To never feel afraid again. He focused more on his hand inside of her finding the one spot that made her entire body quiver and tremble urging her to release. He could feel the warmth and the moisture building as he went faster. Her back arched further and her hands tightened; one gripping the sheets under her and the other still tangled in his hair. He didn't mind the pain knowing the tighter she gripped, the more pleasure she felt. Her breaths started coming in quick gasps and her hips started buckling beneath him as her body came close to release. He trailed kisses up to her neck so he could whisper into her ear at the very second she came into his hand.

"I love you," he whispered over her scream of release. She turned her head so she could look into his eyes and smiled. She hadn't smile like that before. Her smiles had been brief or only halfway done. She had never smiled with her eyes like this. He'd never seen her eyes sparkle like they were now.

"I love you too," she whispered. "Now it's my turn." Before he could ask what she meant, she pushed him off her to roll back over to their original positions: her on top of him kissing him heavily. Micky couldn't say anything to protest wanting everything to be about her because when she finally stopped kissing him, his pants were unzipped. Then as he tried to speak, she'd slipped her own hand down his pants and held him firmly making all words catch in his throat. She smiled at him again and he decided he couldn't fight her anyway; she wanted to do this. She stroked him a few times bringing him to full hardness before releasing him long enough to slip his pants and underwear off. Her eyes sparkled looking at him before she leaned in to kiss him again, one hand once again wrapped firmly around him.

She started at the base and slid her hand all the way up before going back down. Micky groaned into the kiss enjoying the feeling. She moved to blow lightly on his ear sending more shivers of pleasure down his spine. As she worked to move her hand faster on him, she started to trail her own set of kisses down his chest focusing on his own nipples and his navel. He tried to brace himself knowing what was coming, but he still shuddered happily when she blew gently on the tip. He almost lost it the moment she leaned forward and ran her tongue up him. He rolled his eyes up into the back of his head and gripped the sheets tightly and moaned her name out when she took him completely in her mouth. He tried to control himself to keep from buckling under her but ended up only quivering. She continued to work him relentlessly and it was all he could do to contain himself.

"Oh God," Micky breathed out. She continued manipulating him with her mouth and hands until he couldn't take it anymore. He groaned in pleasure as his body now reached release. He felt a little weak now as she gingerly trailed kisses back up to his mouth to kiss him deeply again. He pushed her away a little and smiled at her. "That wasn't fair."

"What wasn't?" she asked breathlessly.

"I didn't go that far with you," Micky answered rolling her back over. He knelt down on the floor and moved her so that she was sitting on the edge of her bed. He curled his fingers over the waistband of her pants and undies and started slowly moving them down making sure to place a gentle kiss on each patch of newly exposed skin as he went. She moaned and breathed out his name, further encouraging him until finally they were both completely naked.

"Micky, please," she moaned as he continued to tease her by sucking softly at the skin around her pelvis. He smiled at her urgency and complied by slipping his fingers inside her again. He then spread her legs further apart and positioned himself between them so he could see her fully. She groaned and he could see her quivering, anticipating what was to come. Again she moaned his name in a pleading tone and again he complied. He placed a soft kiss on the inside of her thigh before taking her clit in his mouth and sucking gently. She bucked suddenly beneath him and made an almost unintelligible sound. He laughed a little and continued to play with her; his tongue flicking over her clit when he wasn't sucking on it and stroking her from the inside quickly finding the one spot that made her body tremble again. It didn't take very long before her body released once again, screaming his name in pleasure.

"Now we're even," Micky said coming back up to kiss her.

"Micky," she breathed. "Make love to me. For the first time."

"You're sure you're ok with it?" Micky asked. She wiggled around so that she was fully on the bed with her head resting on the pillow. Her eyes were firm and pleading as she nodded. He crawled up to meet her lips in his and kissed her hungrily while he positioned himself above her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and legs around his waist pulling him down to her. When he entered her, she let out a small gasp of excitement and arched her hips to meet him. He felt himself fill her completely and had never felt so satisfied. For a brief moment, he flashed back to times before when this activity wasn't as pleasurable, but the second he looked into her eyes and saw the passion and desire in them, he pushed those thoughts from his mind.

"Micky," she moaned as he pulled out and pushed back in again. Over and over he focused on her looking at the pleasure engulfing her face with each passing thrust that she matched. He felt her tighten around him and pull him deeper inside her. She moaned over and over again, growing louder with each thrust as she grew closer to climax. This is what she needed. He felt the pull signaling his own impending climax and slipped a finger in between them to rub circles around her clit, desperate to have her climax with him. When she did, she screamed his name again making him smile. He collapsed next to her completely spent but happy. It seemed like such a simple thing, but her moaning out his name made him happy. He was able to hear the desire and passion behind it and knew it was because of him. That's all he needed to feel that what they had done had been needed and worthwhile.

"Thank you, Micky," she whispered in his ear as she curled into him and rested her head on his bare sweaty chest. "That was more than amazing."

"I love you," Micky breathed pulling her close to him.

"I love you, too," Sarah smiled. "I don't want you to leave me, but I know you have to do what's best for the baby and Rose. No matter how much I want to stay with you, I know I can't. We're both underage. But I want you to know that I will always love you. No matter what happens."

"I don't want to leave any more than you do," Micky answered running his fingers softly through her hair. "But I have to keep you safe. I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to you. I would do anything to make sure you stayed safe." They sat together for a while, just holding each other. When Micky finally fell asleep in her arms, it was the best sleep he'd ever had in his entire life.


	7. A New Arrival

Author's Note: There is a special surprise in here for one of my lovely fans. :D Hope she likes it. Thanks for being such a great friend and fan!

Chapter 7: A New Arrival

_**5 years 5 months ago**_

"Micky!" Sarah shouted while shaking him a little waking Micky up a few weeks later.

"What?" Micky asked groggily.

"Micky, wake up!" Sarah said her voice pleading and insistent.

"I'm awake," Micky muttered. "What is it?"

"It's Rose," Sarah said quickly and sounding terrified. Micky bolted upright and looked at Sarah. "I think she's in labor."

"What!?" Micky asked jumping out of bed. He quickly scanned the room for where his clothes had fallen the night before and spotted them near the door.

"She's in a lot of pain," Sarah answered as he quickly pulled on his pants and underwear. "She says she thinks she's having contractions."

"How long?" Micky asked.

"I don't know," Sarah answered as they dashed out of the room and down the hall to Rose's room. "I only just woke up and heard her moaning when I went to the bathroom."

"Ok, remember what I told you?" Micky asked as they reached Rose's room.

"Yes, I'm supposed to just help her breath and then clean the baby," Sarah said as Micky knelt down next to Rose. "I'll get the bag." Micky nodded looking at the bag in the corner of the room. It had been part of the things he'd packed before they'd ever escaped; scissors, clamps, towels, suction bills, bottles and powdered baby formula along with various other items. He knew she wouldn't be able to breastfeed the baby very well as she was a little malnourished, but they could feed the baby through the bottle to make sure that it got everything it needed. He'd also taken gloves and medicines from his mother including equipment to set up an IV saline drip.

They were still hiding out in the abandoned church rectory. Micky had wanted to leave a few weeks ago and go to their next hideout, but Rose wasn't in much of a condition to move, so he decided it would be best for them to stay. They were in a ghost town; an old mining town that had been completely mined dry. The few times that Micky had driven to the nearest town for food or other supplies, he'd always driven in the dark and made sure he wasn't followed. He'd stocked them up on their last trip with as much water as he could so that they could not only drink it, but he could use it to help clean the baby and Rose up after the delivery. But none of them had really taken a decent shower in a long time.

"How long have you been having contractions?" Micky asked Rose.

"A few hours," Rose breathed. "It comes in spurts."

"Yeah," Micky answered. "They're supposed to. How far apart are they?"

"Maybe a few minutes," Rose breathed. "It hurts like hell."

"I know," Micky answered as Sarah came over to the bed with them. "Just remember to breathe. Just the way I told you. Sarah, prop her up with the pillows. I'm going to see how dilated she is." Micky moved the sheet off Rose as another contraction hit her. She screamed in pain and Sarah quickly gripped Rose's hand.

"Breath through it, Rose," Sarah said breathing with her. Once the contraction was over about a minute later, Micky pulled her pants off and looked to see how dilated she was.

"She's almost there," Micky said. "Sarah, keep her breathing. She'll probably have another contraction soon." Sarah nodded and Micky moved to start preparing everything. A few minutes later, Rose gasped in pain again, signaling another contraction. They were only a few minutes apart and lasted for about a minute; which meant she was very close, so Micky had to move fast. He grabbed the towels to lay them out for the baby and put the suction bill on top of them next to her. After grabbing a bottle of water he'd use to clean her off, he moved to start setting up an IV for her knowing her dehydration would become a lot worse during the delivery after putting a pair of gloves on.

"Micky," Sarah said as he began trying to find the vein to put the IV in. "I think her water broke."

"That's fine," Micky said expecting that but checking in between her legs anyway. "Take a towel and wipe it up." Sarah nodded and Micky went back to trying to put the IV in Rose's arm.

"Micky," Rose muttered softly; she was already getting weak. "I don't...I don't think..."

"Rose, just hang in there," Micky said trying to help her relax as he finally found a good enough vein to start the IV in. It was the one thing he was glad that his mother made him learn. They taught him a lot about the things they did and how to get away with it which also included how to help a woman give birth and heal other wounds. His mother had made sure to teach him everything he might need to know to help heal people, which he'd always thought was odd when he was younger since she was the one who hurt them. But as he got older, he realized that they didn't want people to die of their injuries until they were finished with them. So now Micky knew most of the things people learned through years of med school. "It'll be over before you know it."

"I don't think I can do this," Rose answered as he carefully slid the needle in her arm.

"Yes you can," Micky said firmly. "You can do this. Just breathe."

"Micky..." she started.

"No, you can do this," Micky said. "I know you can. And so do you. Just relax and breath." Rose was about to respond again, but gasped in pain as another contraction hit her. She arched her body a little off the bed and Micky quickly slipped his fingers in to put pressure on her spine. She immediately relaxed and started breathing again.

"What was that?" Sarah asked.

"Acupressure," Micky answered moving to finish the IV. Once everything was set up, Micky took another look to see how dilated she was. When he looked, he saw the baby's head crowning. "Ok, I think we're ready. Rose, you ok?"

"I don't wanna do this," Rose said painfully.

"I know you don't, Rose," Micky said. "But you have to. You can do this. I need you to start pushing. Take a deep breath, squeeze Sarah's hand and push."

"I can't," Rose answered.

"Yes, you can, sweetie," Sarah answered softly. "I'm right here for you. We'll do this together. All three of us. On the count of three." Rose didn't answer, but looked like she was at least listening.

"Ok," Micky said positioning himself to help her. "One...two..."

"Three..." Sarah finished and Rose closed her eyes tight and pushed. She screamed in pain as the baby slowly started coming out.

"That's great, Rose," Micky said as her body relaxed for a moment. Her hair was already starting to stick to her face completely drenched in sweat. "Keep breathing and give me another strong push."

"No," Rose said weakly.

"Come on, Rose," Sarah urged. "You can do this. You're such a strong woman. I wouldn't have made it this far if it weren't for you. Don't give up now. We've come this far. Let's do this. One...two...three." Rose pushed again, harder this time. The baby's head cleared and her body relaxed.

"You're doing great, Rose," Micky said. "We got the head out. Just a little more."

"Ok, another push," Sarah said.

"No," Rose answered much more weakly than before. The color had completely drained from her face and her head rested limply against the pillows behind her. Micky grew very worried; he knew that paleness and weakness was to be expected, but not this severely. Something was wrong. Micky quickly checked to make sure there was no excess bleeding, but knew they had to finish this quickly for the baby's sake.

"Come on, sweetie," Sarah pressed.

"Make sure she's breathing," Micky cautioned. "But we have to get this baby out now."

"Right," Sarah nodded. "We're gonna push again, Rose. On three. Ready?" Rose shook her head but Sarah counted anyway. Rose pushed on the count of three, but it didn't have nearly the strength the others had. It was enough to let the baby's shoulders clear, but only just. Micky looked up at Rose and saw her eyes were only half open.

"Rose?" Micky prompted worriedly.

"Micky..." Rose answered. "I can't..."

"Rose, hang in there," Micky said trying to keep his voice calm. Rose said something else, but Micky couldn't hear with how weakly she said it.

"Rose, don't," Sarah pled. "You can do this!" Rose slumped back on the bed and passed out.

"Shit!" Micky exclaimed.

"What do we do!?" Sarah panicked.

"Rose, wake up!" Micky prompted, but nothing happened.

"She said to make sure you take care of the baby, Micky," Sarah said. "What does that mean? Is she going to..."

"No," Micky answered not letting her finish. "It's just too much for her. Her body's too weak to begin with. She needs to rest. She'll be fine."

"What about the baby?" Sarah asked.

"We're going to have to do this together," Micky said. "I need you to listen to me very carefully and do everything I say. Get behind her and hold her up for me. You're gonna have to push for her."

"Ok," Sarah answered doing as he instructed.

"Hold her up," Micky said as Sarah did just what he told her to. She looked scared, but determined. He got a good grip on the baby as the next contraction hit and nodded to have Sarah push down on her stomach. Micky was able to pull the baby out the rest of the way with no further complications. He worked quickly to grab the clamps to put on either side of the umbilical cord where he would cut it. Once the cord was cut, he carefully started using the suction bill to clear the baby's airway and waited desperately for it to start crying. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief when he heard the cries as the baby started wiggling in his arms.

"Oh, thank God," Sarah breathed.

"We aren't done," Micky said. "There's still the afterbirth."

"Just tell me what to do," Sarah said. Micky instructed her to hold Sarah up again as he reached in and pulled the afterbirth out as another contraction hit her. He pulled it out and placed it in a nearby garbage bin after checking it over to make sure it was intact. He then pressed on her stomach around her hip to make sure he didn't feel anything else in there before he felt it was ok to have Sarah let go of her.

"Go clean up the baby," Micky instructed grabbing a clean towel and the bottled water he'd set aside earlier.

"Are you sure she's going to be ok?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, just go clean the baby up and get some formula made," Micky answered. Several hours later, Micky was worn out and wanted to go back to bed. Rose was cleaned and redressed, but was still out and Sarah was in the other room taking care of the newborn baby. Micky had changed his own clothes and had washed himself up and now sat down on a chair next to the bed. Sarah came in just as Micky was starting to drift off.

"How is she?" Sarah asked.

"She'll be fine," Micky answered. "Malnourished, dehydrated and in a lot of pain. How's the baby?"

"It's a girl," Sarah answered holding the baby out. Micky thought for a moment he would just walk away; he'd planned on leaving all of the baby handling to Sarah, but he took one look at her face and melted. It wasn't that he was going to judge her based on where she came from, but he was afraid if he bonded too much with her, it would make it harder for him to give her away. Despite the fact he knew that was what was best for her. Sarah placed the girl in Micky's arms and he almost started crying.

"She's beautiful," Micky said taking her in his arms.

"She looks a lot like you," Sarah said. "She's got your eyes."

"That doesn't mean anything," Micky answered gruffly.

"Are you that adamant against her being yours?" Sarah asked.

"We just don't know who her father is," Micky said. "And it doesn't matter. I want her to have the same life any other kid deserves. A life I never got. No matter where or who she came from."

"You don't want to admit that there's a good chance the baby could be yours because it'll be harder to give her up," Sarah said. Micky didn't respond knowing she was right but not knowing how to respond.

"Can I see her?" Rose asked waking up.

"Of course," Micky answered getting up and carrying the baby over. "You're still too weak to really hold her, but you can see her."

"She's beautiful," Rose whispered. "Her name is Hope."

"That's a beautiful name," Sarah said.

"She is my hope," Rose smiled.

* * *

It took them a week to drive from where they were to LA only travelling at night. Rose was almost fully recovered and Micky enjoyed playing with the baby a lot more than he thought he would. He still didn't want to admit that there was a chance the baby was his for fear of being unable to give her up. But not bonding with her was turning out to be harder than he thought. She didn't cry often, but the few times she did, Micky would pick her up and she'd stop crying even if she wasn't hungry or needed a diaper change. Rose and Sarah tried sometimes, but Micky was really the only one to get her to completely stop. At night, he would sit with her and sing her to sleep. There were a few times when she was hungry, she'd nuzzle Micky's chest and every time she grabbed his finger, he melted. They had enough diapers to last a month, but she was eating a lot more than Micky had expected, so they were running out of formula.

But now they were finally home and Micky had to track down the teacher he trusted to find a good home for Hope. When they arrived in LA, he snuck into the school late at night and looked up her address. He gave Rose one last day with Hope before driving them all over to her house to talk to her. He pulled into a beautiful 2 story house just as dusk began to fall. Sarah said she'd wait in the car and keep a lookout for anyone approaching while Micky and Rose walked up to the house with Hope in their arms. Micky almost didn't want to go through with this, but he knew he had to when he looked down at her in his arms. She was sleeping and looked so peaceful and Micky wanted it to stay that way. If they kept her, he knew it wouldn't stay that way at all. His resolve set, he knocked on the door.

"Hello?" his former teacher answered as she opened the door. "Micky?"

"Hi, ma'am," Micky said. "I know I asked you for a big favor a while ago, but I need to ask another one."

"Is that a baby?" she asked.

"Yes," Rose answered. "It's mine."

"Come inside," she said stepping aside to let them in.

"Do you remember I told you that my parents were abusive, horrible people, Ma'am?" Micky asked sitting down on a couch she indicated them to sit down on.

"Please, call me Lisa Anne," she said. "And yes. That's why you were running away."

"Well, part of what they did made this baby," Micky said.

"What?" Lisa Anne said shocked.

"It's very complicated and no one would believe us if we told anyone," Micky sighed. "But we can't keep this baby. We can't give it the life it deserves. You're the only person I trust."

"What makes you think you can trust me?" Lisa Anne asked.

"Because you always tried to help me," Micky answered. "You looked out for me and believed me when I told you where my bruises came from."

"We want to make sure Hope has a good home," Rose said.

"Hope?" Lisa Anne asked. "That's a beautiful name for her."

"Can you help us?" Micky asked. "Make sure she's taken care of? We have a little formula left and some diapers. I found a car seat and I have a little extra money so you can buy what you need."

"Of course I will, Micky," Lisa Anne answered.

"You can't ever tell anyone where she came from," Rose said.

"Even her," Micky said. "I don't want her to know. I want her to have a chance at happiness, and if she dwells too much on the dark place she came from, she'll never be able to be truly happy. I want her to think she's just like every other child out there."

"She is like every other child out there," Lisa Anne answered with a smile. "You have my word that I will find her a happy home, Micky. She will be safe and she will be loved."


	8. Happy Birthday

Author's Note: As always, read and review! Please...I'm a sucker for reviews.

Chapter 8: Happy Birthday

_**5 years ago**_

"He's not dead," Chucky answered as Simon held him back a little. Mike felt like he was going to be sick again. He really hoped Micky wasn't dead, but he looked pretty lifeless and limp. Claire knelt in front of the chair and checked Micky's pulse.

"He's not," Claire said. "For now. But you better hope that doesn't change."

"Just let him die," Chucky said. "He deserves it."

"We need to find those girls," Claire argued.

"You need to find them," Chucky sneered. "I don't really care. I've wasted year looking for them and this little shitstain when we could have just found new ones! I can't keep taking off work for this little shit. No one is going to believe a damn word they say anyway."

"I still don't want him to die," Claire answered. "He needs to be punished for what he did. He drugged us, Chucky!"

"Fine," Chucky said storming from the room. "Then treat him!"

"Michael!" Simon barked making Mike jump. "Help her carry him to the empty room. Do whatever she says."

"Yes, sir," Mike answered before his father left to follow Chucky. It was the one order from his father he was willing to take. He wanted this boy to get better, too, and if he could do something to help him, that made him happy. He just wished there was a way he could take him with him when he left in a month. Mike helped carry Micky up the stairs of the basement and into the spare bedroom. Mike gently laid him down on the bed and waited for Claire to tell him what to do. She immediately set to work at treating Micky.

"Get towels," she said. Mike ran from the room and rushed to the hall closet to grab an arm full. When he returned, she was snapping Micky's elbow back into place. The sound it made made Mike feel sick again, but he had to push that out of his mind.

"Towels, Ma'am," Mike said handing them to her.

"Clean him up," she said. "Start with his head."

"Yes, Ma'am," Mike answered and set to work cleaning the blood off Micky as she stepped out of the room. His body was covered in a layer of dirt as well and Mike cleaned that off to help prevent infections. Once his head was clean, Claire came back in with a bag that she set on the ground. She set to work inspecting his head as Mike started cleaning the wounds on Micky's chest. She clipped some of the hair away from his wound to get a better look at it and then began sewing the gash closed with a needle and thread she'd pulled from the bag. Micky was still bleeding from the cut on his shoulder pretty bad no matter how Mike tried to clean it.

"Put pressure on his shoulder to stop the bleeding," Claire said. Mike did what he was told and pushed the towel into the deep wound. He felt the warm blood soak through the towel and soak his hands. While he was putting pressure on the wound, she worked on other injuries after hooking an IV up to him with medication. She carefully took his pants off to inspect his legs. The right leg looked twisted and mangled and was about as dark purple as his arm. His leg was definitely broken. Claire quickly and expertly splinted up his leg after looking at it for a few minutes. She then moved to take care of his chest, stitching the wound now that Mike had slowed the bleeding and wrapping it in a tight bandage.

"Is he going to be ok?" Mike asked standing away from the bed.

"Too soon to tell," she answered. "These wounds should heal. I'll have to reset his leg tomorrow once the swelling goes down, but the head injury could have him go either way. But his chances are good."

"How do you know what to do?" Mike asked.

"I'm a doctor," she answered turning to face him. "You did a very good job, Michael."

"I just did what you told me," Mike said taking a step back feeling uncomfortable with the way she was suddenly looking at him.

"Yes, but you stayed very calm," she said walking closer to him. She was looking him up and down as though he were a piece of meat and it sent shivers down his spine. "Not very many people would be able to do what you did."

"I doubt that," Mike answered backing away further.

"Your lip is hurt," she said getting closer. "It's cut pretty deep."

"It'll heal," Mike answered.

"Funny; last time I saw you, you were a little boy," she had now backed him up all the way against the wall and Mike felt very uncomfortable as she placed her hands on either side of him against the wall, trapping him there. She leaned against him and whispered in his ear. "Now you're a man."

"I'm still only 17," Mike said trying to cover the crack in his voice from fear.

"Age doesn't mean anything," she whispered. He felt her breath on his neck and wanted so badly to run out of there. He froze, however, when he felt her hands on him. First on his chest, then sliding down. He tried to squirm away when she slipped her hand down the front of his pants slightly to tease his hip. She sucked on his ear a little as Mike tried to convince his body to run instead of remain frozen in fear. "I can make a man out of you, Michael."

"Leave my son alone, Claire," Simon said coming in just before her hand went too low. She immediately pulled her hand out of his pants and looked innocently at Simon.

"You're no fun," Claire said.

"He's not worth it," Simon said. "Too naive. He wouldn't know what to do with you."

"I like virgins," Claire said pouting a little.

"I know you do, but you have other things to deal with," Simon said. "Your husband wants to talk to you."

"Fine," Claire answered. "Michael has been such a good little helper with Micky. I'd like to have him stay on as my assistant until Micky gets better."

"That's fine," Simon said. "Isn't it Michael?"

"Yes, Sir," Mike answered shakily. He wanted to continue helping Micky, but he was scared that Claire might touch him again. And that thought sent shivers down his spine. But looking at the still lifeless looking boy on the bed was all the resolve Mike needed. If this boy had been strong enough to escape and set two women free, one of whom had been pregnant, Mike could put aside his own fears to help him.

So Mike spent the next several days doing everything he could to take care of Micky. He barely left the boy's side except to sleep. He cleaned and changed the bandages as frequently as Claire told him to and whenever Micky's IV bag was empty, he changed it to make sure Micky stayed medicated and hydrated. Claire had reset Micky's leg once the swelling had gone down and put it in a fresh cast. Any time Claire started to make a move on him, Mike always found some excuse to leave the room. But he never let it interfere with caring for Micky.

Three days into Micky's ordeal, Mike was changing the bandage on his head when he saw Micky's finger twitch. Mike stopped for a moment thinking that maybe he'd been imagining things, but he saw it again. He quickly looked at Micky's face for any other signs he was regaining consciousness. He noted that Micky's eyes were flitting around under the lids like he was trying to look for something, but couldn't see through the closed lids.

"Micky?" Mike prompted putting the dirty bandages in the garbage bin next to him. Micky moaned in response. "Just take it easy, ok? You've been hurt pretty bad. Don't wake up too fast, ok?"

"Who are you?" Micky asked as he tried to open his eyes. The light was very bright for him and he hissed in pain and shrank back. Mike quickly flicked the light off in the room to make it more tolerable for him.

"My name is Mike," he answered coming back over to the chair he'd set up next to the bed. "I don't know if you remember me. I think we met once or twice a long time ago."

"You're Simon's son?" Micky asked looking at Mike through the little bit of light streaming through the curtains.

"Yes," Mike answered.

"What happened?" Micky asked.

"What do you remember?" Mike asked moving to grab a new bandage for Micky's head.

"I remember my parents saying we had to go your dad's house," Micky answered.

"Yeah, they took you into the basement and tortured you," Mike answered.

"And you're playing nursemaid?" Micky asked. "Why would you do that?"

"Why shouldn't I?" Mike asked startled by the question.

"You're Simon's son, aren't you?" Micky asked and suddenly Mike realized why Micky didn't trust him.

"I promise you, I'm nothing like him," Mike answered moving to place the new bandage on his head as gently as he could. "I turn 18 in a month and I plan on running as far away from here as I can and I hope to never look back. I just wish I could bring you with me."

"I'd only weigh you down," Micky said.

"Is that why you sacrificed yourself?" Mike asked. "You said you let your parents find you."

"Yes," Micky answered. "I knew they'd never stop looking and i thought if I could divert their attention long enough..."

"Your friends would be safe?" Mike asked. Micky only stared at him as though unsure he could trust him. Mike was pretty sure that Micky was wondering if Mike was playing the role of double agent. "Look, I know you don't trust me. I wouldn't trust me either. You don't have to even talk to me if you don't want to. I just figured that it might make you feel better."

"Were you in the basement?" Micky asked.

"Yeah," Mike answered. "My father decided it would be a good idea for me to watch. He wanted to remind me of what would happen if I ever crossed him."

"Did you need reminding?" Micky asked.

"Not really," Mike answered. "I've thought about doing what you did, but I guess I never really had the guts."

"What happened to your lip?" Micky asked. Mike absently touched the cut on his lip that had been healing, but was still a little sore.

"I foolishly tried to help you," Mike said. "Dad didn't like that. Shoved me to the ground."

"You tried to help me?" Micky asked. "I really don't remember anything."

"Yeah," Mike sighed. "Your head took a pretty bad blow. I'm surprised you're even still alive."

"What exactly did you do?" Micky asked. "I mean, it would have been at least 3 against 1."

"Yeah," Mike answered. "It was 4 against 1, actually. But I wasn't really thinking about that. I didn't even do much, really. I sorta just lunged for you and asked them to leave you alone."

"Bet that went over well," Micky answered.

"I should have done more," Mike said heavily as he finished wrapping Micky's head. "I'm sorry."

"More?" Micky asked. "Like what? You just said it was 4 against 1. If you'd done more, they'd have killed you."

"I don't know," Mike answered. "But you escaped. You got out and saved two girls and a baby."

"That was more luck and timing," Micky answered. "And it didn't work that well. They still got me."

"But the baby is safe," Mike said. "And so are the girls. I heard your parents talking. Your dad doesn't want to waste any more time looking for them. They're safe." Micky seemed relieved upon hearing this, but Mike could tell he was also a little skeptical. He still wasn't sure he could trust Mike, and Mike couldn't say he blamed him. A lot of people who grew up around people like their parents usually ended up either becoming like them or succumbing to other vices like drugs or alcohol. Those who didn't follow the path of their parents usually ended up dead; either from overdose or suicide. A few were even murdered.

Micky got steadily better over the next few weeks. His head injury was healing rather quickly and he had started getting bits and pieces of memory of the beating back. Mike had honestly hoped that he wouldn't remember, but saw it as a sign of healing. Micky asked Mike if some of the memories that came back were true and Mike tried to elaborate a little, but never pushed Micky to talk about the things that had happened before. Claire had come in to check on him from time to time, but she grew steadily busier. Mike didn't know what she was doing, but didn't want to get involved. She rarely ever made a pass at him anymore for which he was very grateful.

"You threw up," Micky said by way of greeting a week before Mike's birthday when Mike walked in.

"Yeah," Mike said closing the door behind him. "How are you this morning?"

"Fine," Micky answered. "Got more movement in my shoulder. Why did you throw up?"

"Because what they were doing to you made me sick," Mike answered moving to check on Micky's medications. "It was right before your dad went ballistic and nearly beat you to death. Your mom had to pull him off you."

"I pissed him off," Micky said.

"Yeah, you spit in his face," Mike answered. "Still not sure why you did that."

"I wanted them to leave you alone," Micky said. "I saw the pity in your eyes. The hurt. I wanted them to just end it. I felt bad they were making you watch it."

"Well, it worked," Mike said. "They definitely stopped. But they could have killed you."

"Yeah, I really don't care about that," Micky said. "I don't really have much to live for anyway."

"Well, about that," Mike said. "I wanted to propose something to you. I'm leaving next week on my birthday and I want to take you with me."

"I really don't see them letting me go with you, Mike," Micky laughed.

"No, but they don't have to know," Mike said.

"Mike, I'm not going to let you smuggle me out," Micky said. "I've done that. Living in hiding constantly looking over your shoulder is no way to live. I'm not going to let you do that for me."

"They don't have to know you escaped," Mike said. Micky gave him a very confused look as Mike quickly delved into his plan. "I do a lot of reading in my spare time and I got to thinking. In Romeo and Juliet, she fakes her death. She drinks something that makes her appear dead. Well, there is actually an herbal mixture that can do that. Like nightshade."

"There's an herb that makes you look dead?" Micky asked.

"Yes, and I happen to know exactly how to get it and mix it," Mike answered.

"I'm not even going to ask you how you know that," Micky said.

"I get bored," Mike shrugged. "I used to play guitar, but my dad broke that a while ago."

"You play music?" Mike asked.

"Somewhat," Mike answered. "Dad didn't like it, so not anymore. But that's not the point. I think we can pull this off, but you have to trust me."

"I don't think we can fool my mother," Micky said. "She's a surgeon. She'll know I'm not dead."

"That's just it," Mike said. "I heard she's leaving in a few days for a while. She'll be gone next week when I plan on leaving. It'll be someone else who finds you."

"Where is she going?" Micky asked.

"I don't know," Mike answered. "Something about securing something for her job. That doesn't really matter. But you have to trust me. It's very important you trust me."

"Why?" Micky answered.

"Well for one, you're still very incapacitated," Mike said not wanting to get to the worst part of his plan first. "For another, you'll be in a car with me for a long time. I was thinking of going to Malibu."

"California?" Micky asked.

"Yes," Mike said quickly. "I know that is very close to LA where you grew up, but that also means they won't be looking for you there, right?"

"I guess," Micky said.

"The other thing is..." Mike said unable of how to word the next part. "Well, it's kinda complicated. But the herb lasts for a while. And my dad is going to want to umm...get rid of your body pretty fast. He'll bury it in the the backyard with some of the others."

"I'm going to be buried?" Micky asked.

"Yeah," Mike said. "I really don't know how to say this, but...I planned out the timeframe and you'll probably wake up in the coffin. That's why it's so important to trust me. I'm going to hide an oxygen tank inside the coffin and you'll have to use that to breathe. I can't dig you up until after it looks like I've left and until nightfall so they won't see me. I'm sorry, but that's the only way this is going to work. They have to think you're dead and dad has to bury you because otherwise your body will just disappear and they'll know something is up."

"But you'll dig me up?" Micky asked tentatively.

"I promise," Mike said. "I don't know how long it'll be after you wake up, but I will get you out and we will get out of here. But I need to know you trust me. If you don't, you're just going to freak out down there. But if you trust me, you'll be able to stay calm. You freak out and you'll use up all the oxygen. I have to know you're ok with this plan. That you trust me."

"Do it," Micky said.

"You trust me?" Mike asked.

"Yes," Micky answered. "You've been here with me this whole time when you didn't have to be. You were so disgusted with what they did to me that you threw up for crying out loud. Besides, there's something in your eyes I trust. I can't explain it. But I trust you."

"We'll need to make it seem like you're getting worse though," Mike said. "For appearances. So how are you at acting?"

"I think I can manage," Micky answered. So for the next week, Mike began informing his father that Micky was getting worse, even suggesting he'd been having seizures. His father had checked on Micky several times who pretended to be incoherent and out of it. In his free time, Mike worked hard to gather what he needed to make the herbal concoction that would knock Micky out, slow his breathing and his heart-rate. He also worked to get a small oxygen tank and snuck out to the shed where his father kept spare boxes of wood they used as coffins when one of his prisoners died. Mike knew where most of them were since he was usually forced to help him bury the bodies. He found one at the forefront and worked throughout the night to make a false bottom in the box to hide the oxygen tank.

The night before his birthday, Mike slipped into Micky's room and gave him the herbal concoction and told him to drink it that morning. Micky nodded and hid it under his pillow as Mike left. He'd managed to talk his father into giving him the van they'd found Micky using and he packed it with all his stuff. Then Mike just waited. In the morning, he told his father that he'd check in on Micky before leaving and promised once again not to say anything to the police. When he checked on Micky, he saw Micky was passed out. He looked dead. Mike pocketed the empty bottle and ran to get his father.

His father and Chucky raced into the room and checked Micky over. They felt for a pulse and tried to check his breathing. They worked for 15 minutes before confirming he was dead. His father told Mike to prepare a coffin before leaving and Mike made sure to grab the one with the hidden oxygen tank. Simon told Mike to leave once he set the coffin outside near where Simon and Chucky had placed Micky's body. Mike made a point to look as though he were leaving, but he had to figure out where they were going to bury Micky, so he circled back around and hid behind a tree just as they started lowering the coffin into the ground. Mike mentally memorized the spot before turning to leave again.

He came back later that night with a shovel and carefully pulled the van up as close as he could to the spot where Micky was buried. He quickly set to work making sure he was quiet and wouldn't be heard or seen. Once he reached the top of the wooden box, he jumped down in the hole and yanked off the lid. Micky lay there with the oxygen mask over his face and smiled at him to tell Mike he was ok. Mike returned the smile and helped him out of the coffin. His leg was still in the cast and badly broken and his shoulder hadn't regained motion, so pulling him out of the hole was difficult. They finally managed to get Micky into the back of the van where Mike helped him into the bed in the back before going back to rebury the coffin. Then they set off for Malibu, everyone now thinking Micky was dead.


	9. The Truth Revealed

Author's Note: I hope no one is confused on the whole past flashback thing.

Chapter 9: The Truth Revealed

"So that's how you two really met?" Dave asked startled. Mike and Micky had finished telling how Micky had escaped with Rose and Sarah and Mike had come up with the idea to fake Micky's death. Neither had gone into too much detail about their prior lives, Micky neglecting to talk about his intimate encounter with Sarah and Mike neglecting to talk about how Micky's mother treated him. Micky didn't have a clue any of that had ever happened. "You told us you met here at an audition! You...you lied to us!"

"Davy..." Peter muttered. Micky knew Peter was trying to diffuse the situation before it exploded.

"It's not enough that you kept all this from us, but you flat out lied to us for three years about something as stupid as how you met!" Davy exclaimed. "How could you do that to us?!"

"Do you really think we could tell you the truth, Davy?" Mike asked.

"Three years, Mike!" Davy exclaimed. "You lied to me for three years! We visited your family! What about Aunt Kate? Is she even really your aunt!?"

"Yes," Mike answered. "She's my mothers sister. My father raped her in college, but she was drunk and high at the time so no one believed her. I took my mother's name after I left. Micky changed his entirely."

"Micky changed his name?" Davy asked. "So he's even lying about that?"

"Davy, I'm supposed to be dead!" Micky exclaimed. "Micky's always been my name. I tried changing it, but couldn't get used to it. I had a lot of problems with memory after that nightshade stuff wore off. But we changed my last name at least. We had to. My father's FBI. If I had applied for a drivers license using my real name, it would have red flagged and he'd know I was alive."

"I just can't believe you lied to us," Davy said. "All these years. I thought you trusted us!"

"We do trust you, Davy," Mike answered. "What do you want us to say?"

"You could have told us the truth," Davy said. "If you trusted us, you could have told us the truth!"

"Damnit, Davy, you know it had nothing to do with that!" Micky exclaimed unable to control his anger. He really wanted to because he knew Davy was his friend and he was just in shock. "We couldn't tell you the truth for your own sake!"

"What?" Davy asked. "Our protection? If you're supposed to be dead and you're supposed to be free, what are you protecting us from?"

"Davy, please stop," Peter pled.

"What do you think, Davy?!" Micky exclaimed. "We were trying to protect you from the truth! We didn't want you to know where we came from! We don't want anyone to know!"

"Why?" Davy asked.

"Why do you think, Davy?" Peter yelled standing up and slamming his hands on the table startling them all. Peter never yelled. "They didn't want this to happen. They wanted to move on with their lives and never look back. And they don't want people judging them. People judge others for all sorts of reasons. They take anything and go with it. Any weakness at all. People would have seen their parents instead of them. You can't tell me that if they told you the truth you would have been able to look at them the same."

"You would have," Davy answered.

"We're not talking about me," Peter argued. "Come on, Davy. Just look at the way people look at me. Everyone sees me as stupid. I'm the dumb hippie."

"You're not a dumb hippie," Mike said.

"You guys know that now," Peter said. "But tell me the truth. When you first met me, you thought I was stupid. I get anxious around new people and I never know what to do. So people see that as me being stupid. Can any of you honestly say you didn't think I was at least a little slow when you first met me?"

"We looked past that, Pete," Mike said. "Because we also saw you have a good heart."

"Exactly," Peter said. "And that's what makes this different. People hear about what your parents did and they can't see you for who you really are. It's like a giant scarlet letter. Am I right?"

"I didn't trust Mike at first," Micky said. "And if they hadn't been trying to kill me, I doubt Mike would have ever trusted me."

"Exactly," Peter said. "What were they supposed to say to us, Davy? "By the way, we're on the run from our parents who tried to murder us for saving two girls from being raped?" Do you honestly think you would have been ok with that? If you hadn't known them like you do now, would you have run away?" Micky glanced at Mike who had his face buried in his hands. He knew Mike well enough to know that they were both thinking the same thing. Would Davy run away now? That was the reason neither of them had spoken of their pasts. They were both terrified that people would do just what Peter said they'd do and run away from the two evil children. And they were both terrified those people were right on some level.

"I...I don't know," Davy admitted finally sinking down into the chair and cooling off.

"We'll understand if you guys want to leave," Mike said softly.

"What are you talking about?" Peter asked looking at Mike quizzically. Mike didn't look at him and when Peter turned to Micky for an explanation, Micky stared at the floor unable to answer for him.

"They think you still see them as their parent's sons," Sarah said holding herself up in the doorway.

"Sarah!" Micky exclaimed jumping up and rushing over to her. She still looked very weak, but she did have a bit more color in her face. "What are you doing!? You need to stay in bed!"

"I'm fine, Micky," Sarah answered, though Micky could feel her trembling slightly.

"Uh, why don't you sit down," Davy said jumping up and pulling out a chair for her. "I made you pancakes. You should at least eat." Micky led her over to the table and helped her sit down.

"Is that true?" Peter asked staring down Micky and Mike. "Do you think we want to run away because we think you're evil?"

"Most people would, Pete," Mike admitted.

"We aren't most people," Davy said putting a plate of pancakes in front of Sarah. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone off on you like I did. If I upset you...I'm really sorry. I just got a little overwhelmed with all this"

"It's not that you upset us, Davy," Mike sighed. "We know where we come from. We know who we are."

"Obviously you don't," Peter said angrily. "How dare you think of yourselves as anything like them! How can you think for a second that either of you have a single evil bone in your body!? You two are the kindest, most gentle men I know. You both have two of the most beautiful souls I've ever encountered. Just look at everything you've done, not only for each other, but everyone else! Micky, you saved that baby because you wanted her to have a good life. You knew that baby wasn't going to be anything like your father or anyone else in your family no matter who her father was. So how can you even think that about yourself!? You risked your life to impersonate a mobster just to put the rest of his gang behind bars. You've saved me, Mike and Davy countless times. There's nothing evil about you!"

"And, Mike, you're no different!" Peter continued. "What you did for Micky shows it in and of itself. If your father had caught you, he would have killed you, right? But you stuck your neck out anyway to save him. A stranger. And anytime we've ever been in danger, you've been right there defending us. You've saved us just as many times as Micky has."

"Peter..." Mike started.

"No!" Peter interrupted. "I don't want to hear another word about it! You're nothing like them. Nothing!" The room fell silent for a while. Micky had never seen Peter act like this and it kind of scared him. His words touched Micky's heart and the fact that he had shown more emotion in trying to prove to them they weren't evil than he ever had in the entire time Micky had known him, made Micky smile.

"You have very good friends, Micky," Sarah said after a few minutes.

"Yes," Micky answered. "I guess I do."

"So how do you feel?" Davy asked.

"I'll feel better once I eat more," Sarah said taking a bite.

"Don't eat too fast," Mike cautioned. "Or too much."

"I know," Sarah smiled. "Thank you. Truly. For helping me."

"One thing I don't understand," Davy said. "If Micky helped you escape, how'd you get in this situation?"

"It's complicated," Sarah said shooting Micky a look. He felt a sense of anger boil inside him. More at himself than anything. "But I need to tell at least Micky. I know you're blaming yourself."

"You don't know that," Micky quipped.

"Fine, then tell me I'm wrong," Sarah said.

"You need to eat," Micky answered avoiding the question. He could never lie to her.

"It's not your fault, Micky," Sarah pushed. "After you left, Rose made sure I got home to my parents. Neither of you could have known what was going to happen after that. I was fine for a few weeks, mostly. But then I found out that they had actually sold me to your father. He didn't kidnap me."

"They did what?!" Micky exclaimed feeling some of the anger shift away from himself.

"That's horrible!" Davy cried.

"I always knew they didn't want me," Sarah said. "I was just a mistake they couldn't get rid of. When I found out, I tried to go to the police so I could at least get emancipated. I thought maybe I could find Rose and live with her. But my parents convinced everyone I'd gone crazy from my kidnapping. They locked me up in that place. Got a court order to say I wasn't capable of making decisions for myself when I became an adult and everything."

"Do you think they knew what would happen to you?" Peter asked.

"If they didn't know beforehand, they knew after," Sarah answered. "I tried to tell anyone I could. But I was the crazy girl in the asylum."

"So no one listened to you?" Davy asked.

"That was the idea," Sarah said. "That's why the doctor kept us medicated with pills to make us seem crazy."

"I don't understand why a doctor would hurt someone like that," Davy muttered.

"You mean like my mom?" Micky asked. "Top surgeon. Number one in med school."

"He's crazy," Sarah answered. "He thinks he's helping people. He gives them babies."

"Is that why he took yours?" Mike asked. "To give to another family?"

"Well, that was the intent," Sarah answered. "But..."

"Sarah, you don't have to do this," Micky said placing a hand over hers.

"I'm ok, Micky," Sarah said. "I didn't hear the baby cry. It's dead. Stillborn."

"I'm so sorry," Peter said.

"He got mad at me," Sarah said starting to cry a little. Micky shifted his chair over so he could pull her closer to him. "He said it was my fault the baby died. That's why he left me there to die."

"That's preposterous!" Peter exclaimed. "With how they treated you, what did they honestly expect!?"

"You know it's not your fault, right?" Micky asked softly.

"I know," Sarah answered. "But that doesn't make it any easier."

"I'm sorry, Sarah," Micky whispered. He wished there was something more he could do to help her. He wished he'd tried to track her down. Maybe he could have saved her.

"Was it just the doctor who did this?" Mike asked.

"No, it was the whole staff," Sarah answered. "He hires orderlies and nurses that are criminals. He gives them new identities, so when the state does their background checks, nothing gets flagged. He drugged us to make it so we wouldn't fight back and then he inspected us to see how suitable for childbirth we'd be. Then when we'd get pregnant, he'd sell the babies to desperate couples."

"How does anyone have any healthy babies in that kind of environment?" Mike asked. "I've never seen anyone so emaciated."

"Most of the others were healthier," Sarah said. "I fought back more, so I got punished and drugged more. I'd try to eat, but always got sick. I haven't been able to hold much of anything down for years."

"How are you still alive?" Davy asked.

"Davy," Mike warned.

"We need to tell Rose," Peter said. "If he's doing that to the other patients, someone has to stop him."

"No one is going to believe me," Sarah said. "I already tried to tell whoever would listen."

"Rose said it herself, Peter," Micky said. "Sarah is an escaped mental patient with severe delusions. No one is going to believe her. People like him know how to cover their tracks. Trust me."

"Rose is going to get them off our scent," Mike said. "Maybe we can work something out with her to get evidence against them."

"Wait," Davy muttered. "If you changed your name, how did Rose know who you were before she got here?"

"I sort of ran into her about a year after we got here," Micky said. "I thought about looking for you, Sarah. I don't know why I didn't."

"I know you," Sarah answered. "You didn't want to hurt me. You knew it was hard enough to leave the first time for both of us. You didn't want to stir everything back up by showing up out of the blue. You told me to move on. You wanted me to move on. I don't blame you for any of this, Micky."

"You should eat," Micky said smiling. He knew she was right and it always pleasantly surprised him that she knew him better than he knew himself at times.

"We should do something," Mike agreed. "Try and find evidence. Help those patients and stop that doctor."

"I'll talk to Rose," Micky said. "See what she thinks we should do. She knows the legal system and how people like him work."

"What is Rose's story?" Davy asked. "Sarah was sold to your dad; you and Mike were born into it; what happened to Rose?"

"She was orphaned," Micky answered as Sarah started eating again. "She was 6 when both her parents were murdered. My dad worked the case. The uniformed officers at the scene found her hiding in the closet. They tried to find family for her, but there wasn't anyone to take her. My dad petitioned to adopt her and because of all the ties he has in the legal system, he did. I don't remember much about it. I was 5. But I remember she was terrified. She had nightmares about what happened to her parents for years. I used to sing to her to make her feel better."

"And you did the same for me when your father took me," Sarah smiled. "Your voice has always been calming."

"Is that why he sang to you this morning?" Peter asked.

"He sang that song to me when I first got there," Sarah answered taking another bite of food. "I told him it was my favorite song when I was a kid and even at 14, I still loved it. It was sometimes the only way I would go to sleep at night."

"That's kind of beautiful," Davy said. "I mean, horrible that he needed to, but beautiful that Micky did that."

"It's why I fell in love with him," Sarah smiled.


	10. An Unwelcome Guest

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! I have a renewed sense of excitement for this story now that I know people like it!

Chapter 10: An Unwelcome Guest

"Why don't you go back to bed," Peter suggested to Sarah. She'd eaten a little food and drank some orange juice.

"Peter's right," Micky agreed getting her a glass of water. "You need to rest. You shouldn't even be up right now."

"I'd actually rather try to take a shower," Sarah answered.

"I really don't think you have the energy for that right now," Micky said sitting back down next to her.

"Maybe, but I really need a shower," Sarah answered. "It's been so long since I've had one. A decent one anyway. The showers at the hospital sucked."

"Can you even stand long enough to take a shower?" Mike asked.

"I doubt that," Micky said. "But why don't I help you?"

"Micky..." she started.

"It's fine," Micky said. "I don't have anything else to do."

"I'm going to head out to the store then," Mike said. "Is there anything in particular you want me to pick up for you while I'm out?"

"No thank you," Sarah smiled allowing Micky to help her up from the table. Peter felt bad about the whole thing, hoping desperately that he could do something more to help. Mike was buying food, Davy had made her pancakes and Micky was helping to take care of her. Peter just sat on his backside doing nothing. But as Mike closed the front door, car keys in hand, and Micky closed the bathroom door behind him and Sarah, Peter suddenly had an idea. Sarah needed a change of clothes so Peter jumped up and dug through the closet in the hall where they kept all the costumes and disguises they'd somehow gathered over the years. Which also included a woman's outfit. He pulled the outfit off the hanger and folded it neatly in his arms before crossing to the bathroom door as he heard the shower turn on.

"Hey, Micky," Peter said knocking softly. "I have a change of clothes for Sarah."

"Hang on," Micky said and opened the door a crack and reaching a hand out. "Thanks, Pete."

"No problem," Peter answered handing the clothes to Micky. "Let me know if I can do anything to help more."

"Sure thing," Micky said closing the door again.

"You're not useless, you know," Davy chuckled clearing the table.

"What?" Peter asked walking back over to the table.

"I saw that," Davy said. "You felt like you weren't being of much help so you jumped at the first thing you could think of to make yourself seem useful. But you were probably the most helpful out of all of us. You calmed me down and I think you convinced Mike and Micky they aren't evil. You're keeping us stable. We really need that right now."

"Thanks, Davy," Peter said blushing a little. He helped Davy put the clean dishes away until someone knocked on the door a few minutes later. Peter crossed the room, but was hesitant to open it. Through the window in the door, he saw a brunette woman with very curly hair standing in front of it.

"Who is it?" Davy asked casting a worried glance toward the bathroom.

"No idea," Peter shrugged and opened the door slightly.

"Hi," the woman said sounding nervous. "I uh...I was told that Mike Nesmith lives here."

"Yes, but he's out," Peter answered. "I'm very sorry, but you'll have to come back later."

"Wait," she said as Peter started to close the door. "I really need to talk to him. It's very, very important."

"Well, he's very busy right now," Peter said as Davy walked up behind him. "I'm sorry. Maybe I could tell him you stopped by. What's your name?"

"When will he be back?" she asked.

"I don't really know," Peter answered really wanting to get rid of this woman before she asked too many questions and found out about Sarah. After everything he'd just heard, he really didn't know who to trust anymore. "He went to the store. But like I said, we're all kinda dealing with some stuff right now and we're not up for many visitors."

"I know," she said wringing her hands. She seemed very desperate. "It's just...I really need to talk to him. It's very important."

"You said that," Davy said. "Who are you?"

"Maybe I could just wait..." she prompted.

"No," Davy interrupted. "We're dealing with something. Just tell us who you are and we'll tell Mike you stopped by."

"My name is Heather," she finally said after a long pause.

"Ok, Heather," Davy said trying to shut the door again. "We'll tell him you stopped by."

"Wait," she said stopping the door from closing again. She quickly reached into her purse and pulled something out before handing it to Davy. "Give him this. It's my room key. Well, a spare anyway. Please tell him it's very important. He may not want to talk to me, but could you make sure I said it's important?"

"Of course," Peter said very confused. "Why wouldn't he want to talk to you?"

"It's been a very long time," she answered. "Please, just make sure he gets the key."

"Yeah," Davy said with a kind of forced smile. "We have to go now." Finally they shut the door and Davy inspected the key in his hand.

"Wonder what that was all about," Peter shrugged.

"Dunno, but I'm not sure I trust her," Davy said.

"Why not?"

"Well, for one, she said Mike might not want to talk to her. That tells me that something bad happened between them. Have you ever known Mike to not want to talk to someone? Plus, who gives someone a key to their hotel room that they haven't seen in a long time? Don't you think that's a little weird?

"Well, maybe. But maybe she just really trusts him."

"I don't know, Peter. It's weird. And then there's the timing of this whole thing."

"You mean with Sarah?"

"Yeah. It's just a little weird that she'd show up the day after we save Sarah."

"You think she's working some kind of angle? Maybe she's involved?"

"I don't know. But there's one way to find out. Maybe I should go to the hotel and see what I can find out about her before we talk to Mike."

"I don't know, Davy. I'm not sure I like the idea of sneaking behind Mike's back like that. Why don't we just talk to him and ask him who Heather is? He'll know if we can trust her or not."

"It wouldn't be going behind Mike's back. It would be watching it. He's got enough to deal with already."

"Micky can take care of Sarah while Mike goes and talks to her. If that's what he wants to do."

"Talks to who?" Micky asked coming out of the bathroom with Sarah.

"Some girl just stopped by and asked for Mike," Davy answered. "Said it was very important she talked to him. She gave us a copy of her room key for the hotel she's staying at and asked us to give it to him."

"How do you feel?" Peter asked as Micky helped Sarah sit down on the couch. "Did showering help at all?"

"Much better actually," Sarah smiled. "Thank you so much."

"Don't mention it," Peter answered.

"What was her name?" Micky asked frowning. He looked like he held the same suspicions as Davy.

"Heather," Davy answered. Peter got even more confused when all the color drained out of Micky's face.

"Do you know her?" Peter asked.

"Did she say what she needed to talk to him about?" Micky asked.

"No," Davy answered. "Who is she?"

"She's..." Micky paused as though he didn't really want to answer.

"Isn't that your..." Sarah started before Micky interrupted her.

"Yes," Micky answered. "She's a very old friend of ours. I'll go talk to her."

"But she asked for Mike," Peter said.

"I don't really care," Micky said holding his hand out for the key.

"What about Sarah?" Davy asked.

"She'll be fine with you guys here for an hour," Micky answered. "Now give me the key and don't say a word of this to Mike."

"Come on, Micky," Davy said backing away from Micky slightly so Micky couldn't just swipe the key from him. "No more secrets. I thought we said we trusted each other."

"I do," Micky answered. "But it's not really my place to talk about it. It's between the two of them."

"So if it's between Heather and Mike, why are you so insistent on going over there?" Peter asked.

"Because I'm going to tell her to leave Mike alone; if you must know," Micky answered. "Mike does not need to deal with her right now which is why I don't want either of you saying anything to him about it."

"What happened between them?" Davy asked.

"It's not important," Micky answered getting angry. "Will you please just give me the damn key!? You said you trusted me, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah, but..." Davy started.

"Then give me the damn key," Micky said angrily. Davy finally relented and handed the key to Micky with a worried glance at Peter. Micky turned to Sarah and knelt down in front of her. "I know I promised not to leave you, but I have to take care of this. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Is she who I think she is?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, but there's more to this than you know," Micky answered.

"She'll know you're alive," Sarah said.

"She already does," Micky said. "She swore she wouldn't tell Mom or Dad. I trust her with that much at least. This is kind of complicated, but I have to deal with this. Are you going to be ok here with Peter and Davy?"

"Yes," Sarah answered. "I know you wouldn't leave me unless you absolutely had to."

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Micky said kissing her forehead before rushing out the door.

"That was weird," Davy said. "What do you know about her, Sarah?"

"I'm not getting in the middle of this," Sarah answered. "Please don't make me."

"We won't," Peter said before Davy could protest. He knew it wasn't right to drag her into this. But he also knew they'd probably have to talk to Mike about it. Something weird was going on, and Peter had a bad feeling about it. Peter offered to help Sarah go back to bed to rest, but she insisted on staying in the living room and waiting for Micky. She seemed just as worried as the rest of them. When Mike got home about half an hour later, Davy and Peter exchanged a look with each other, both trying to determine if they should tell him.

"Hey," Mike said setting the bag of groceries down on the counter and casting a glance at Sarah. "Where's Micky?"

"Umm..." Peter started. He wanted to tell Mike, heck he wanted to scream it, but he felt as though doing so would break Micky's trust.

"He went out," Davy started more bravely than Peter. "He told us not to tell you about it, but we think maybe he might do something bad."

"What did he do?" Mike demanded.

"Well, he said that he was going to talk to this girl who showed up looking for you," Davy started nervously. "But he seemed really angry when we told him who. I've never seen him like that. I'm worried about what he might do."

"Davy, spit it out," Mike said. "What girl? Where did he go?"

"She said her name was Heather," Davy said. Mike's face paled the same way Micky's had, but instead of getting angry, he looked desolate. "She said she wanted to talk to you about something and gave us her hotel room key. She said it was really important."

"Mike," Peter said walking over to his friend who had seemed to get really weak and started leaning on the counter. "What's going on? Who is this girl?"

"We need to stop Micky," Mike said pulling himself back together. "You're right. I doubt he's going to do very much talking. When did he leave?"

"About half an hour ago," Davy answered. "Since we have the car, we might be able to beat him there. I think he walked. Mike, what's going on?"

"She..." Mike started but changed his mind halfway through. "It's not important."

"Mike, knock that off!" Davy exclaimed. "Stop lying to us and stop hiding shit from us!"

"I'll explain when I get back," Mike said snatching the keys off the counter.

"We're going with you," Davy said.

"No, you have to stay with Sarah," Mike said. Peter looked at Sarah and felt torn. Mike said Micky wasn't going to do much talking; so Micky _was_ probably going to do something stupid. Peter had never thought Micky would do anything like that to anyone and he held out hope that Mike was wrong. But so much about all of this was new for him, he wasn't sure he could believe that anymore. Because of that, he wanted to go with Mike to help stop Micky from doing something he'd later surely regret, but he couldn't leave Sarah.

"No, I'm going too," Sarah said standing up.

"You're too weak," Peter said rushing to her side to support her.

"I'm stronger than I was and I'm going with you," Sarah said. "You all need to stick this out together and I need to be there for him."

"Sarah," Davy started but she cut him off.

"We really don't have time to argue about this, do we?" Sarah said. "I'm going."

"Ok, fine," Mike sighed obviously agreeing they didn't have time to argue and rushed out to the car. Peter helped Sarah out to the car behind Davy.

"Mike, talk to us," Davy said as they all piled in. "What's going on? Who is this girl?"

"Davy..." Mike sighed as he started the car obviously not wanting to go into it.

"You promised, Mike," Davy said.

"Fine," Mike said pulling out of the driveway. "She was...a really long time ago...my fiance."


	11. Love Lost

Author's Note: As always, please review. Reviews make me happier. :D

Chapter 11: Love Lost

_**4 years ago 6 months ago**_

Mike and Micky had pulled into California only two days after leaving Texas. They had stopped at his Aunt's ranch before leaving the state where Micky had stayed hidden in the back of the van in case he was seen by anyone. Mike trusted Aunt Kate entirely, but they didn't know who else might be around. Micky didn't dare show his face until they left Texas. After leaving with money and food given to him by Aunt Kate, they made a stop in Arizona to sleep in a motel and finally arrived in Malibu. Mike had lined up an apartment for them and though it was in a rundown area, since neither of them had jobs, it would have to do. Now they were all settled in and had moved on with their lives. Thanks mostly in part to a woman they'd run into shortly after arriving.

As soon as Mike had laid eyes on her, he found her to be the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Her hair was a chocolate brown and fell in very curly waves. Her eyes sparkled in the sunlight when she smiled and she was curvy in all the right places. They had run into each other in the hallway and Mike had been struck speechless. Micky on the other hand, already knew her and seemed worried. She was his sister and had run from the family only a few years prior when she had turned 18. She told them she was meeting with a friend who lived in the apartment and had promised she didn't speak to anyone else from the family anymore so their secret was safe with her.

Even though she was Micky's sister, he couldn't help but feel butterflies in his stomach every time she came to see them. She had offered to help Micky in his recovery and even bought them groceries from time to time. She worked nights as a waitress in a cocktail lounge, so she usually stopped by in the mornings after her shift or at night before. It wasn't until three months later that she caught Mike eyeing her one day while helping put a batch of groceries away. She had giggled which had sent the butterflies in his stomach into a tizzy. Mike had blushed and looked away, but she had pestered him asking him if he liked her. He had finally admitted he thought she was beautiful and to his surprise she had backed him into the counter and kissed him.

He had thought at first about fighting back against the kiss, after all, this _was_ Micky's sister, but he hadn't been able to. He had felt the butterflies fly up his chest and his heart had nearly stopped. He had tried to hide how tight his pants had suddenly become when she had finally pulled away and smiled at him. She had made the first move and she had invited him over for dinner at her place. He enjoyed dating her and he was falling hard and fast. Every single time he saw her, his heart skipped a beat. He had told Micky almost right away, knowing hiding it would be wrong and Micky had reacted as he expected. Mike and Micky were close, but they weren't best friends, but Micky still got upset. He tried not to show it, but he had grown very quiet and told Mike dating her was a bad idea. But Mike continued anyway. 3 months after the fateful kiss in the kitchen, Mike once again found himself at her house at the end of another wonderful date.

"Mike, stop," Heather said as Mike got up from the dining table and started grabbing the dishes.

"What?" Mike asked.

"You're doing my dishes," Heather said getting up and taking the plates from him. "This is my house. You are my guest. You don't do dishes."

"I want to help," Mike said. "It's no big deal."

"How about we do this later," Heather smiled and set the plates in the sink before taking his hand and leading him to the couch. She pushed him down on the couch and straddled him to kiss kim. He melted into her kiss, once again feeling his chest flutter and his pants tighten. He would sit here and do this forever if he could. Regretablly, she broke the kiss and looked at him rather pointedly. "How long are we going to do this, Mike?"

"Do what?" Mike asked confused.

"Dance around?" she said. "We've known each other six months and have been dating 3 of them. Do I have to make all the first moves here?"

"What?" Mike asked though from the tiny movement her hips suddenly made against his, he guessed what she meant.

"I know you want to move forward as much as I do," she answered pushing even further against the tightness in his pants. The sudden contact made his heart flutter again and he tried to stifle a little groan.

"Heather, you know I really like you," Mike started, "but isn't this moving a little fast?"

"Mike, are you a virgin?" she asked with a slight laugh.

"Actually, yes," Mike answered nervously. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"No," Heather answered and pulled him deep into another kiss. She pushed down on him a little more making more contact with him eliciting another groan from him. She pulled away from him slightly and whispered into his ear. "Mike, you know you want to do this. Why are you fighting this? We both want it."

"I can't hurt you," Mike answered honestly. The only times he'd ever seen activity like this, it was always painful.

"You could never hurt me, Mike," she whispered placing her hands softly around his waist.

"Heather, I..." he started, but she stopped his protests with another kiss. He felt it all the way down his spine and deep in his core. He really did want this. From the first time she'd kissed him, he felt his body's response screaming out to be with her entirely. But he'd always been so terrified of hurting her. Of rushing things and pushing them too far. He never knew what really to do other than what he'd seen, and he knew he couldn't do half of what he'd seen.

"Ssh," she hushed when she finally pulled away from him. "Stop fighting what you really want. You won't hurt me. I can guide you." He opened his mouth to argue again, desperately not wanting to hurt her, but stopped when she leaned back and started unbuttoning her blouse. Suddenly his mouth got very dry and his argument was lost in his head as she slipped her shirt off her shoulders and onto the floor.

"Oh god," he breathed just before she leaned back down and kissed him again. This time he fully wrapped his arms around her and kept her close to him. If she pulled back and took off any more clothes, he'd surely lose it. It was as if she were prepared for this; she was wearing a tight black lace bra that held her perfectly round breasts up.

"Mike," she said breathlessly as she pulled away a little. She slid her hips against him in further emphasis. "Go ahead. Don't fight it. You know you want it." He groaned again and couldn't fight it anymore. He let his hands fall down to her waist as she continued sliding back and forth against his pants. She took one of his hands in hers and guided it up to the the clasp on her bra as she leaned in for another passion filled kiss. He felt the desire build up in him as his body screamed at him to go faster. He fumbled a little on the clasp of the bra, but it finally came undone and he felt a groan escape her lips as he did. She pulled away from him and let him pull her bra off and toss it to the floor.

He took a moment to take her beauty in. He wanted to touch her, but felt afraid. She took his hands again and guided them up so he could hold her. She moaned a little and arched her back, pushing her hips firmly into his. He leaned his head forward so he could kiss her; starting at her collarbone and then working further down until he took her nipple into his mouth. She cried out and grasped his hair, pulling him closer to her. She started moving her hips again, gently rocking against him concealed tightly in his pants. She threw her head back as he swirled his tongue around her stiff nipple and sucked ever so gently.

"Mike," she moaned as he moved to the other breast paying it the same attention. "I thought you said you didn't know what to do?"

"I don't," he said swallowing against the nerves rising in his throat. "I'm just going by instinct here." She leaned down and kissed him again while simultaneously undoing his own shirt. She ripped it off with a certain fever before moving down to his pants. He responded by unbuttoning her pants and pulling them down. Since they were both seated, however, they couldn't fully disentangle themselves from their clothes. He pushed her up a little, desperately needing to disrobe with her. He couldn't take how tightly he was packed into his pants anymore. They stood up together, still locked in a passionate kiss and he slipped her pants and undies off as she kicked her shoes off. He couldn't as easily, so he had to break away to pull his boots off and then took a moment to take her in.

His pants and underwear clung around his ankles and he quickly stepped out of them to kiss her again. His hands slid down her back and around her waist as she pushed her body as close to his as she could. He ran his hands all over her body, desperate to feel every inch of her soft, smooth skin. She pulled him into another kiss and her hands travelled down to grip him softly. He cried out as he felt her start to play with him. He looked into her eyes and saw her smiling at him as her other hand took his and guided him once again to her backside.

"Wait," Mike said breathlessly as he felt himself ready to explode any minute. "Do you, uh, do you have anything?"

"Protection?" she answered with a smile. "Of course I do. In my room." She let go of him and took him by the hand to lead him into her room. When they arrived in her room, she sat on the edge of the bed and pulled something out of her nightstand. Mike walked over as she took the wrapper off and let her put it on him, relishing in her touch. And not really knowing how to do it himself. He then leaned over her as they sank onto the bed and kissed her again. She arched her hips into him and he brushed against him. Once again, he felt the need to bury himself deep inside her.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked. She nodded and he dug his knees into the bed as she wrapped her legs around him. He waited nervously just staring at her. Was this really a good idea? They'd never be able to come back from this. Did he want to come back from this? She whispered his name and guided him into her. He felt a warmth spread all through his body as she arched into him further, burying him deep inside her. She cried out at the sensation and closed her eyes.

"Mike," she whispered as he leaned down to kiss her. He knew she was urging him on, but he wanted to savor the moment a little longer.

"Tell me if I hurt you," Mike said as he finally pulled out slightly.

"You won't," she answered. She arched her hips into him and gasped in ecstasy. Seeing the desire in her eyes pushed him forward. He kissed her passionately as he thrust himself into her over and over. He felt her hands on his back, holding him close to her and barely felt her nails dig into his back as she came closer and closer to the brink. He felt a pull himself pushing him further and faster. As they exploded together, she screamed while dragging her nails down his back down his back and he moaned her name. He collapsed next to her, completely spent. She rolled over into him and rested her head on his chest.

"That was amazing," Mike whispered as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"And you didn't want to do it," she laughed.

"I didn't say that," he smiled. "I just didn't want to rush you or hurt you."

"Well, you didn't," Heather smiled kissing his chest.

"Marry me, Heather," Mike blurted before he could even think. She pushed herself up to look at him.

"What?" she asked.

"I...I love you," Mike answered. He waited for what seemed like forever for her response. Finally she smiled and leaned in to kiss him again.

"I love you, too," she said gently against his lips. "But that's not what you said."

"I think I asked you to marry me," Mike said with a laugh. He wasn't sure why he'd said it, but he was sure that he did truly love this woman.

"Yes, you did," she laughed. "Do you take it back?"

"No," Mike said after he thought for a moment. "I know this is fast and this isn't exactly the most romantic way to do it, but I love you. You make me feel like I never have. I never want this feeling to end. I never want to leave you."

"Ask me again," she smiled.

"Marry me, Heather," Mike said a large grin spreading across his face.

"Yes," she smiled and kissed him again.

* * *

The next morning Mike waited nervously in the kitchen of the apartment he shared with Micky. He had to tell Micky that he had proposed to Heather the night before and she had accepted, but he wasn't exactly sure how he was going to say it. Micky was still pretty incapacitated and still needed Mike to help take care of him, which Mike was more than happy to do since they had become friends with each other, but they weren't best friends. It was still wrong for Mike to have even begun dating Micky's sister, but it was too late to go back now. He would just have to hope that Micky would be ok with it. Knowing when Micky usually woke up, he waited until then before gently knocking on the door carrying in a tray of food for him.

"What's this?" Micky asked as Mike set the tray down over Micky's lap.

"Breakfast," Mike answered.

"Yes, I can see that," Micky said. "But since when do you bring me breakfast in bed? I'm not that crippled. You can just help me out into the dining room."

"Well, I wanted to talk to you," Mike said.

"About what?" Micky asked.

"Me and Heather," Mike started figuring diving in would just be the best way to do it. "We're engaged." Micky froze with the fork full of eggs halfway to his mouth. He didn't say anything, but set the fork back down on the plate. "Micky?"

"Why?" Micky asked.

"Because I love her," Mike answered.

"Are you sure?" Micky asked. "Are you sure it isn't just falling in lust with the first girl you see the moment you leave captivity?"

"It's not like I was a caged animal, Micky," Mike answered. "I have had contact with other girls."

"Have you ever dated another girl?" Micky asked pointedly. "Have you ever kissed one? Other than my sister?"

"No," Mike answered. "But that's not what this is. I really love her, Micky, and I want you to be ok with this."

"I can't," Micky answered simply.

"What do you mean?" Mike asked.

"I can't be ok with you marrying my sister," Micky answered. "I told you that you were making a mistake when you went out with her. Three months later you're suddenly engaged. A bigger mistake."

"Micky, I know this is fast, but..." Mike started.

"Did you fuck her?" Micky asked cutting him off.

"Excuse me?" Mike asked angrily.

"Did you fuck her?" Micky asked again.

"That's not really any of your business," Mike spat. "But no. I didn't "fuck her". We made love."

"Same thing," Micky snorted.

"No it's not," Mike spat. "Just because you threw away your chance at love, doesn't mean I have to, Micky." Mike immediately regretted the words the minute they left his mouth, but the look on Micky's face told him it was a bad idea to try and take it back. Mike stormed out of the room and heard the crash of the tray full of breakfast hitting the wall.

* * *

_**3 months later **_

Mike and Micky hadn't really spoken to each other at all over the next several months. Mike wanted to apologize for what he said, but never really knew what to say. Sometimes he felt like he didn't deserve to apologize to Micky. And Micky never really said much of anything to Mike either. He mostly just stayed to himself. Mike did notice that when he handed Micky the paper when he was done, Micky would go through the rental listings; he was wanting to move out, but he was in no condition to work to earn an income to pay for an apartment. As much as Mike knew Micky must have hated him, Micky still relied on him.

He still had a few cognitive problems where he sometimes forgot how to form words momentarily and couldn't write at times, but he was getting a lot better at it as his head continued to heal on its own. His leg had been busted up pretty bad 9 months ago, but was at the point now where he could walk on it for a little bit around the house, but mostly had to use crutches. But whenever Mike was home, Micky stayed in his own room. He had, much to Mike's dismay, taken up drinking most of the time. Mike wasn't really sure how he was getting the booze, but often times tried to throw it away whenever he'd find it. It was usually stashed in Micky's room, though, so he often couldn't.

Heather had tried to talk to Micky, but he refused to speak with her. He had taken to locking his bedroom door in protest saying he wanted nothing to do with either of them. Mike wanted desperately to tell Micky to get over it. Heather was a grown woman and could do whatever she wanted. But Heather had told Mike it was pointless to try and argue anymore. Micky had made up his mind and if he was ever going to come around to being ok with their engagement, he'd have to do it on his own. Nothing Heather or Mike could say would do anything to sway him.

The two had continued with their plans of marriage and since they weren't exactly going to invite family and neither had many friends, they could get married rather quickly. Three months after he proposed to her, in fact. Heather and Mike were both extremely nervous and the night before, Heather decided to stay over with Mike having taken the whole week off from work. She often slept over after work and had even taken to leaving spare necessities in his apartment. They had found a nice chapel nearby and Heather insisted she didn't want anything big or formal. She wouldn't even be wearing a wedding dress. It would essentially just be them, one or two friends Mike had made, a few of her friends, and Micky; if he'd wanted to come. Mike fell asleep clutching her close to him. Nervous but content.

When he woke up that morning, he was elated. He was about to seal his fate with the woman he loved and wanted to spend the rest of his life with. But she wasn't next to him as she was when they'd fallen asleep. Mike looked around confused for a moment, but then thought that maybe she was in the kitchen. But when he got up, he realized that the stack of clothes she'd left at his apartment were gone. He'd given her a cheap fake ring for now promising a better one when he made more money and his stomach lurched when he realized it was sitting on his nightstand. He got up and ran to the bathroom and saw the toothbrush, makeup and hair brush she'd also left at his apartment were gone. She was gone.

He raced to the phone and dialed the number to her house to find it disconnected. He pulled on clothes as quickly as he could and dashed out the front door to try and find her. But he never did. She had left; no note, no explanation, no good-bye. She was just gone. The realization sunk in only a week later and he crumbled. He was in the bathroom he shared with Micky and stared at the empty spot where Heather's toothbrush used to be. He collapsed to the floor and sobbed. His foot kicked open the cabinet door and Mike spied a large, full bottle of whisky hidden in the back. He'd drank the entire bottle within a few hours and was soon passed out on the floor of the bathroom.

When he woke up, he realized he was somehow covered with a blanket and there was a glass of water on the counter next to him. The bottle of whiskey was gone, too. He half hoped that somehow Heather had come back and helped tend to him, but realized that it was more than likely Micky. He hadn't said anything to Micky about what happened, not wanting to hear anything from him about how Micky had been right all along, but Micky knew of course something had happened since they hadn't gotten married and he hadn't seen Heather either.

Mike felt sick to his stomach and clumsily pulled himself to the toilet to vomit. He heard a loud crash as he knocked over a shelf into the tub. He looked and saw an old razor had fallen and broken apart so the blade was lying next to the can of shaving cream. Before he knew what he was really doing, he picked the razor out of the bottom of the tub. Thoughts raced through his mind as he tried to figure out what he was doing.

His world was crashing down around him. Who was kidding? He had no one. There were only a few people in this whole world he'd ever cared about. His mother was gone and Aunt Kate had never really been that close to him. He had Micky for a while, but it seemed with some poorly chosen words in the heat of anger, he'd managed to throw that relationship away. And then there was Heather. He really wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He loved her. And somehow, she had gone. In the middle of the night without a word the night before their wedding. He had no one. He was contributing nothing to the world. He was useless. The only thing he knew was the pain and misery of the world he'd come from. He'd been born out of hate and violence, after all. The whiskey was still pounding through his brain adding to his despair.

He brought the blade to his wrist and dragged it towards his heart. Even though he saw blood spill out the wound, he felt no pain from it. He felt the sharp blade cut into his skin, but that was all. He leaned against the wall and started crying once again. He had hit rock bottom and he was alone. What he hadn't noticed this past week was how carefully Micky was watching his every move. He didn't know that while he was passed out drunk on the floor, Micky had sat with him for hours waiting for him to wake up and cleaning the sweat off his forehead before going to the store to get the perfect hangover cure. He didn't know that Micky had hobbled home on his crutches and had heard the crash of everything falling into the tub. And he didn't know that Micky was knocking softly on the bathroom door. All he could hear was the pounding in his head. So when Micky thrust open the door, Mike was startled.

"Mike!" Micky exclaimed and ripped a hand towel off the rack before sitting next to Mike. Mike was too weak to fight back as Micky yanked the blade out of his hand and threw it back into the tub. Then Micky grabbed Mike's wrist and wrapped the towel around it tightly to stem the blood flow. "Mike, are you fucking insane!?"

"She left, Micky," Mike said weakly through tears as Micky pulled him into a comforting embrace.

"I know," Micky said.

"Why did she leave?" Mike said as a new stream of tears flowed from his eyes. He didn't expect Micky to have an answer, though. "I don't understand. It was the middle of the night. She left. Why?"

"Mike, I'm so sorry," Micky said.

"I'm so alone," Mike said. "People like us will always be alone, won't we?"

"No," Micky said. "Because we have each other. You saved my life, Mike. I'm not going to sit here and let you throw yours away."

"Why would you do this?" Mike asked. "Why do you care about me? I hurt you. I said some pretty stupid things."

"Sure, what you said hurt me pretty bad, but I know you didn't mean it," Micky said. "You were mad. I was being pretty mean, too. I should have just left you alone." Mike didn't know what to say. One of the people he thought he'd thrown away was so willing to forgive him after he'd said something horrible. It was in that moment that the two of them finally became best friends.


	12. Confrontation

Author's Note: Thank you all so much for the kind reviews!

Chapter 12: Confrontation

Micky inspected the key in his hand to make sure he had the right room before walking up and quietly putting the key in the lock. The door was loud when he opened it, though, so he made sure to ease into the room. He didn't want Heather to know it was him and run. He looked around and noticed that the bathroom door was shut and the light was on. Heather was in there. He shut the door and walked into the room carefully. When he looked around the room, he saw clothes scattered in various places and a shiny aluminum baseball bat by her bed. Micky crossed the room and picked it up.

"Mike?" Heather called from the bathroom. "That was fast. Just sit on the bed. I'll be out in a minute." Micky didn't answer, but gripped the bat in his hand and sat on the edge of the bed. Waiting. Finally she came out of the bathroom, she froze when she saw him instead of Mike.

"Hello, Heather," Micky said standing up. "Long time no see."

"Micky!?" she exclaimed backing away a little. "What...what are you doing here? How did you get in?"

"You gave me a key," Micky said showing her the shiny hotel room key.

"No, I gave Mike a key," Heather said. "Where's Mike?"

"Mike's not coming," Micky said advancing on her a little. "I came in his place. You need to stay away from him."

"I'll do whatever I want, Micky," she argued. "You and Mike are still living together? Weren't you planning on moving out?"

"I was never planning on moving out," Micky said. "I was looking for a bigger place for us. Away from you."

"So protective," Heather said. "It doesn't matter anyway. Leave, Micky, and give the key to Mike. It's his decision whether or not he wants to talk to me."

"I don't think so," Micky said. "You need to stay away from him. Do you have any idea what you did to him?"

"I owe him an explanation; you know with that anger you remind me of dad," Heather said. The rage and anger Micky felt surging through him exploded. He grabbed her shoulder and threw her against the wall. She tried to fight him off, but he grabbed the bat and pushed it against her neck cutting off her airway.

"You were too damn chicken shit to explain anything to him 4 years ago!" Micky exclaimed. "You don't have the right to do it now! You destroyed him and it took everything I had to keep him from killing himself! How dare you walk back into his life now thinking you can make everything better!?"

"Micky!" he heard Mike exclaim as he thrust the door open. "Get off her!" Micky didn't look, but felt three sets of hands around him pulling him away from Heather. When the bat was pulled away from her neck, she dropped to the ground coughing and gasping with her hand grasping at her throat. Micky saw Sarah kneel down next to her to see if she was ok as Mike pulled the bat from Micky's hand.

"Micky, are you crazy!?" Heather exclaimed through gasps. "You could have killed me!"

"Shut up!" Micky roared.

"Micky, sit!" Mike ordered pushing him back towards the bed and taking a stance between him and Heather. Peter and Davy still held firmly onto Micky's shoulders as they pulled him onto the bed. "What are you doing?!"

"Why are you here?" Micky demanded ignoring Mike's question. "You should be at home with Sarah."

"I don't know, Micky," Mike said sarcastically, "I guess I kinda thought you were going to do something stupid like try and kill Heather."

"I wasn't going to kill her," Micky mumbled.

"Fine, whatever," Mike said. "You were just choking her with a bat!"

"She pissed me off," Micky answered.

"Alright, take him home," Mike said to Davy and Peter.

"I'm not going home!" Micky exclaimed trying to jump up only to be pulled back down by Davy and Peter. "You really going to stay here?! To talk to her?"

"I have to, Micky," Mike said. "I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself. I need answers."

"She's a liar, Mike!" Micky exclaimed.

"It's his decision, Micky," Heather said. "He's a big boy."

"Shut up," Micky yelled. "You think I'm stupid? That I didn't figure out what kind of game you were playing?!"

"Micky, stop!" Mike yelled. "Look, I appreciate that you're trying to look out for me, but I can take care of myself. I need this, Micky."

"She's playing with you," Micky said.

"I'm not playing any game, Micky," Heather snapped. "I told you that before."

"Stop," Mike said. "Both of you! Micky, I'm staying and I'm talking to Heather. Take him home, Peter."

"Fine," Micky said getting up. Before leaving, he turned and glared at Heather. "If you do anything to hurt him, I swear to God they won't be able to pull me off you again."

"Not sure I'd want to," Micky heard Davy mutter softly, though he still dragged Micky out of the hotel room nonetheless.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Micky asked when they got to the car. "Sarah is in no condition to be going anywhere!"

"Mike said he was worried you'd do something stupid," Peter said nervously. "We wanted to make sure you didn't do something bad."

"Which you were," Sarah said.

"I had things under control," Micky snarled. "You should have stayed home, Sarah. You need to rest."

"Micky, I'm fine," Sarah said even though she sat down weakly. "I was more worried about you."

"Why did you guys even tell Mike?" Micky demanded giving up on Sarah knowing she was stubborn and he couldn't win. "You promised me you wouldn't say anything."

"Actually we technically didn't promise you anything," Davy said. "You told us not to, but we never told you we wouldn't. You just assumed we wouldn't."

"I really wish you had listened to me," Micky said. "She nearly destroyed Mike. He shouldn't be dealing with this."

"Mike told us what happened," Davy said. "That he felt horrible when she left him."

"Did he tell you what he did?" Micky asked.

"No," Peter said. "What did he do?"

"He tried to kill himself," Micky sighed. "He drank an entire bottle of whisky, got drunk and slit his wrist."

"What!?" Peter exclaimed.

"Where did he even get whiskey?" Davy asked.

"It was mine," Micky said. "Not that it really matters. What matters is that she toyed with him and nearly killed him. And now he's in there alone with her. You thought I was going to do something stupid; I'm more worried for him."

"You really don't trust her?" Peter asked casting a worried glance back at the hotel room. "Mike said she was the one member of your family you could trust."

"Mike told you she's my sister, huh?" Micky asked somewhat surprised.

"Yeah," Davy said. "Said he felt bad about it and that's why you didn't want them seeing each other."

"That's not why," Micky sighed. "I didn't want him seeing her because I knew this would happen."

"You really think he's going to fall back in love with her again," Davy asked.

"I don't know, Davy," Micky said. "But I wouldn't put it past her to try and seduce him again."

"So what do we do?" Davy asked.

"We do exactly what he told us to do," Sarah said. "We take Micky home."

"But we can't just let him do this," Peter said. "We can't let her hurt him again."

"He's a big boy," Sarah said. "Like he said. He can make his own decisions. Besides, I think I need to lie down."

"You ok?" Micky asked rushing to her side.

"Yeah, just tired and a little dizzy," Sarah answered.

"That's because you need to be in bed resting," Micky said.

"Well, I would be if you hadn't gone off and tried to kill your sister," Sarah chastised. Micky felt a small twinge of guilt knowing his friends were just trying to do the right thing. He really shouldn't have come here. He should have just thrown the key in the ocean and never spoke a word of it to Mike. With one last glance at the hotel room, he could only hope Mike would keep a level head and not get hurt again. But he doubted that would happen. His sister was quite the masterful manipulator. She had learned from the best: their mother.

* * *

"Ok, start talking," Mike said locking the door behind Micky in case Micky changed his mind and came back.

"Sit down, Mike," Heather said as he turned back to face her. He almost couldn't look at her. Seeing her beautiful face and beautiful eyes. It was just as he remembered her the last time he saw her; falling asleep in his arms the night before they were supposed to get married.

"I'll stand," Mike said wishing this conversation would just be quick. His eyes fell to her neck as she rubbed it gently. He could already see the bruise forming there from Micky. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine," Heather said walking over to a fridge in the corner of the room. "Wouldn't be the first time someone did that to me. Just never thought it would be my own brother."

"Yeah, well, he was trying to defend me," Mike said watching her pull a bottle of alcohol out of the fridge.

"I didn't realize the two of you were that close," she said pouring the whiskey into two small glasses.

"We weren't until..." Mike trailed off and forced himself to look away from her. He wanted to tell her that he didn't want anything to drink, but felt a small burning at the back of his throat. He was getting sick to his stomach just standing here. The only reason he'd stayed was to get answers from her on why she left and she was making small talk.

"Until I left?" she said handing him a glass. Despite the voice in the back of his head telling him not to, he took it from her and took a sip. It burned going down his throat, but somehow he felt less sick. "Amazing how that worked. People are brought together in times of great pain. I'm glad you had him, though. To help you."

"He wouldn't have had to help me with anything if you'd stayed, Heather," Mike said taking another sip.

"I suppose not," Heather said falling silent.

"You said you were going to explain," Mike said downing the rest of the whiskey. "Start explaining."

"It's a lot to explain, Mike," she sighed and grabbed the bottle to refill Mike's glass. "Why don't you sit down."

"Fine," Mike said reluctantly letting her refill his glass. Half of him was yelling at him to stop drinking and the other half was saying this was the only way to numb the pain he was surely about to feel. He crossed over to the bed and sat down waiting.

"I'm not really sure how to even start this," Heather said pacing a little. "I mean, I've gone through it in my head dozens of times before coming here, but now none of it seems good enough."

"I don't think it's going to be good enough any way you say it," Mike said.

"Right," Heather agreed before taking a deep breath. "I guess there's really no good way, so here goes. I left because I didn't want to hurt you. I got into some trouble and didn't want to drag you down with me."

"Trouble?" Mike asked. "You know I would have helped you."

"It wasn't really the kind of trouble you could help me with," she said. "I spent several months in jail."

"What?!" Mike asked jumping up in surprise. "Why were you in jail?"

"I got caught on the job," Heather answered. "Lined up the wrong client."

"What are you talking about?" Mike asked confused. "You were a cocktail waitress."

"Micky never told you?" Heather looked at him in surprise. "Well, that's interesting."

"Told me what?" Mike asked.

"Micky said if I didn't tell you the truth, he would," Heather said. "I just assumed that since I couldn't bring myself to do it that he did."

"Heather," Mike warned.

"I wasn't a waitress, Mike," she said. "I was a dancer."

"A dancer?" Mike asked. "Please tell me you were a backup dancer or something."

"No," Heather said.

"Damnit, Heather, you were a stripper?!" Mike yelled feeling weak in the knees.

"Mike, I'm sorry," Heather said. "I should have told you, but I didn't want to hurt you."

"How did that get you in trouble with the law?" Mike sighed and sat back down wanting to move on. He was upset, more than upset, but he was starting to feel a little dizzy and just wanted to go home. He went to take another sip, but realized his glass was empty again. "Stripping isn't exactly illegal."

"Well, um," she said filling up his glass again. "We had this back room reserved for private performances."

"Private performances?" Mike asked a little confused before it finally clicked. "Oh god. You...you..."

"Mike, I'm sorry," Heather said desperately. "Micky found out about it and he told me to tell you, but I just couldn't. I was so ashamed and I didn't want to hurt you."

"If you were ashamed, why the hell did you do it!?" Mike yelled jumping up again. As soon as he did, he almost fell over, but caught himself.

"What else was I supposed to do, Mike?" Heather asked. "It's all I know. It's all I'm good at, Mike. I tried the waitress thing, but I couldn't hack it. I wasn't making nearly enough to support myself. It's not like mom and dad gave me anything when I left!"

"Micky and I managed just fine!" Mike argued.

"You had skills, Mike," Heather said. "Sex was the only thing I knew. It was all I was good at. Hell, what did you expect coming from where I did? Did you expect us all to just be ok? Micky has problems with the bottle."

"Had," Mike corrected. "He stopped drinking after you left. He made a promise to me to get better. It took a lot, but he finally got to a point where he could sleep at night without it."

"Why do you think I'm doing this, Mike?" she asked. "I went to therapy after jail. I worked to better myself. One of the things they said I had to do was make amends. I don't expect you to forgive me, Mike, but I had to tell you why I left. I was terrified of dragging you down with me. I loved you so much, I didn't want to hurt you."

"You actually did a pretty good job of doing that," Mike said. "And no, I can't forgive you, Heather. It would have been easier for me to deal with if you'd told me the truth from the start. Do you have any idea what I've been through? I tried to kill myself. I drank. I haven't been able to have a single relationship with anyone since you left. Every time I think about it, I remember what it was like to wake up so happy and ready to marry the woman I love only to be completely crushed to find her gone. No note, no good-bye, nothing! The night before we were supposed to get married, for Christ's sake!"

"Mike, I really didn't mean to hurt you..." Heather started.

"What the hell did you think would happen!?" Mike demanded advancing on her a little. His head was spinning and it took all the strength he had to keep from falling over. Looking down at the glass in his hand, he realized it was empty again. He threw it against the wall before she could fill it up again. He needed to keep his head clear if he was going to deal with this.

"Of course I knew it would hurt, Mike," she said softly. "But I was scared. I was looking at going to jail and you deserved so much better than to deal with that. Who wants a wife who's in jail for something like that?"

"Yes, I would have been upset, but at least I would have known the truth this whole time," Mike said. "At least I would have had a choice in the matter."

"Would you have still married me?" Heather asked. "If I had told you the truth back then, would you have married me?"

"I don't know," Mike admitted. "It's pretty difficult to wrap my head around the fact that the woman I loved took her clothes off for a room full of strangers and then had sex with them for money in some sleazy back room. The point is, I would have been able to make the choice back then."

"Mike, are you ok?" Heather asked eyeing him. He wasn't really sure if he was or not. His head had begun pounding and he felt like he'd fall over any second.

"I don't know," Mike answered.

"Sit down," Heather said pushing him back towards the bed. "Maybe I shouldn't have given you so much to drink."

"I shouldn't have had any of it," Mike admitted.

"Mike, I really am sorry," she said sitting down on the bed next to him. "I just had to talk to you. My therapist said it was part of the healing process for me. I was scared of hurting you. I was ashamed of what I was doing and I didn't want to drag you down with me. You'd gone through so much and overcome so much. I was scared if I told you the truth, it would only drag you down and that wasn't fair. I really did love you. I still do. I never stopped."

"Heather," Mike sighed.

"Mike, I told you that I don't expect you to forgive me," Heather continued. "I don't expect anything from you."

"You know what the funny thing is," Mike said. "I never stopped loving you either. I've hated what you did to me, but I never stopped loving you." Before he realized what he was doing, he leaned over and kissed her. He half expected her to fight back, but she didn't. She leaned into it further. Since he met no resistance, he pushed her back on the bed and straddled her. His mind told him to stop; that he was making a huge mistake, but he couldn't help himself. He moved to kiss her neck as he unbuttoned her shirt. He moved lower, kissing in between her breasts as she pulled at his shirt to yank it off him.

He messed with the clasp on her bra until he slipped it off and continued kissing her. Again, his mind screamed at him to stop. But it was like there was a disconnect between his mind and the rest of his body. She moaned underneath him as he pulled her nipple into his mouth and worked on undoing her jeans. He finally got her jeans undone and slid them and her underwear down her legs taking her shoes off with them. He returned to kiss her neck before capturing her beautiful lips in his. She moaned again as his fingers found their way between her legs.

He really wasn't sure what he was doing. His body was almost acting of it's own accord. His head was throbbing and he felt like throwing up but he didn't stop what he was doing. His mind was a fog and his vision started to blur. All he saw was her. Beautiful and moaning beneath him almost begging him for more. He obliged and let her unbutton his pants. He stood up and slipped his pants off after pulling his boots off. She had moved further up the bed and lay there waiting for him. Mike climbed on top of her again and kissed her deeply. It didn't have the same passion as it used to. This was more just about getting the job done. Mike teased her a little until he was sure she was wet enough before guiding himself deep inside her.

She cried out in shock and ecstasy as he buried himself deep inside her. His brain was screaming at him to stop now. Screaming at him that this was a truly horrible idea. But again, his body wouldn't listen to his mind. He rocked back and forth against her until he felt a pull at the back of his loins. He didn't even see her anymore. His mind was full of haze and his vision was fading in and out. He barely heard her scream out in ecstasy as she exploded and scratched her nails down his back. He exploded a few seconds later as she tightened around him and threw his head back with one final thrust into her before collapsing on the bed next to her.

Neither of them said a word, but Mike couldn't have understood what she said anyway. The thoughts in his brain started swirling around in a jumbled mess. He couldn't make sense of anything other than the pain in his head, the weakness in his legs and the nausea in his gut. He didn't have long to focus on the feelings, however, as he soon found himself starting to black out. He closed his eyes and succumbed to the darkness.


	13. Fallout

Author's Note: As always, reviews make me happy and keep my creative juices pumping! The more reviews I get, the faster I write!

Chapter 13: Fallout

Mike woke up a few hours later with his head throbbing. He wasn't exactly sure why his head was throbbing or where he was. His memory was very foggy. He opened his eyes and looked around the room to survey his surroundings. He was in a hotel room and suddenly realized he wasn't wearing any clothes. Something came back to him. Just a small piece. He was in Heather's hotel room, but why was he naked? Realization hit him when his eyes landed on a bottle of whiskey sitting on the dresser. He vaguely remembered drinking a little which explained why his head hurt. He didn't remember much, but he realized he must have slept with her.

He groaned and rolled his eyes a little. How could have let that happen? He was pretty sure he could just blame it on the booze and the stress, but he still hated himself for it. He didn't want to send the wrong message to her; she had hurt him too badly to start anything with her again. But yet, something in him felt good about it. Something in him felt a pull towards her. He really had never stopped loving her no matter what she did. She was the only person he ever felt like he could spend the rest of his life with. Aside from Micky, Peter, and Davy, she was the other only person he could bare his soul to.

"How do you feel?" Heather asked coming out of the bathroom buttoning her shirt up.

"Heather," Mike sighed sitting up. "Did we...uh?"

"Yeah," Heather nodded. "Your clothes are on the chair."

"Look," Mike said rubbing his head. "What we did...uh…"

"Mike, it's ok," Heather said. "I understand. You don't have to try and explain. We were both drunk. It was a mistake. A drunk mistake. Why don't you go home. I'll call you a cab."

"I can walk," Mike said getting out of the bed. His legs still felt very weak and he almost fell back down, but caught himself on the edge of the nightstand.

"Mike," Heather chastised. "You can barely stand let alone walk. Get dressed and let me call you a cab." Mike sighed as she handed him his clothes that she had apparently folded neatly on the chair and let her call the cab company. When she touched him, he felt those old butterflies fly around in his stomach again. He looked at her cautiously as she hung up.

"Heather, are you sure that you're ok with this?" Mike asked pulling his boots on. "With where we stand and everything. That you aren't…"

"Mike," Heather laughed. "Stop. I'm fine. We both had too much to drink. I know nothing is going to happen between us. I came here just long enough to talk to you. I'm going home first thing in the morning."

"Where's home?" Mike asked.

"When I got out of jail, I went to LA and started working there," she answered. "I got busted again about a year ago and that's when I went into therapy inside and started turning my life around. I only got permission to come here long enough to talk to you. I have to check in with my probation officer in the morning."

"What do you do now?" Mike asked. A part of him told him that it didn't really matter what she did anymore; he should just take her explanation and start dealing with it. But another part of him desperately hoped that she really was turning her life around. That she was bettering herself.

"I work at a restaurant downtown bussing tables," she answered giving him a knowing smile. "I haven't danced for over a year. And until this, I haven't slept with anyone either. I'm working on my issues, Mike. Why does that matter to you?"

"Heather, I care about you," Mike answered. "That's never going to change. I want you to have a good life. No matter how much you hurt me, you deserve to be happy and healthy."

"That's sweet," Heather said. "I promise, Mike, I'm doing better. I'm getting help. I screwed up a lot in my life and I went through hell. I have a lot of demons to work through."

"Good," Mike answered. Not sure what else to say, they waited in silence until the cab arrived. He was tempted to kiss her good-bye, but instead just opted for a smile. He didn't want to send the wrong signals to her. His mind raced the whole way home. He wasn't sure what his feelings were for Heather anymore. The last several years he'd spent hating what she'd done to him, but he had never really hated her. But now, he had to admit he understood it. He still wished she'd told him the truth from the start, but he understood she was trying to protect him.

When he got home, he waited outside for a little bit trying to pull his thoughts together, but realized it was dark out and he should probably go to bed and finish sleeping off his hangover. He then opened the door and saw Micky sitting in the living room as though he were waiting for him. Mike sighed knowing there was probably going to be an argument and crossed over towards the bathroom wanting desperately to just take a shower.

"That took longer than I thought it would," Micky said staying seated.

"Yeah, well, we had a lot to talk about," Mike said.

"Are you just going to leave it there or are you going to actually talk to me?" Micky asked.

"There's nothing to talk about," Mike lied.

"Really?" Micky asked. "Nothing to talk about? You were gone for 5 hours, Mike. How is there nothing to tell me about after 5 hours of talking?"

"Micky, will you just leave it alone?" Mike asked. "It's over and done with. I got the answers I needed, no thanks to you by the way, and that's it. She's going home in the morning. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to take a shower and go to bed."

"No thanks to me?" Micky asked angrily as Mike took his shirt off and walked toward the bathroom.

"Yes, you knew the whole time and said absolutely nothing to me," Mike answered.

"Wow," Micky said. "Talk about hiding things. You weren't going to tell me you had sex with her?"

"What?" Mike asked stunned and turned back to face Micky. "How did you...that's none of your business, Micky!"

"Have you completely lost your mind, Mike?!" Micky asked finally getting up and walking over to him. "She is a manipulator who broke your heart. Are you really going to get involved in that again?"

"You don't know what you're talking about, Micky," Mike argued.

"I know you had sex with her because of the scratches on your back," Micky answered. "She's always been a scratcher."

"I'm not even going to ask how you know that," Mike sighed. "Yes, I had sex with her, but we were both really drunk."

"Drunk?" Micky scoffed. "How much did you have?"

"Not that it's any of your damn business, but we had a bottle of whiskey," Mike spat. "It was a mistake. We both accept that. It's not going to happen again. I told you, she's going home first thing in the morning to meet with her probation officer."

"Probation officer?" Micky asked.

"Yes," Mike answered. "She went to jail, Micky. You knew that."

"Actually, no, I didn't know that," Micky argued. "I knew she was lying to you about her job and everything, but not that she went to jail."

"That's why she left," Mike said. "You threatened to tell me the truth if she didn't and she couldn't because she was facing jail time. She didn't want to drag me down with her. Even so, you should have told me she lied to me, Micky."

"You're right," Micky sighed. "I should have. I don't really know why I didn't. I just...I couldn't see you go through any more pain. I'm sorry. But Mike, you have to believe me. She's playing you."

"She's trying to get her life back on track," Mike said. "She's going to therapy."

"Or so she tells you," Micky argued.

"Micky, I believe her this time," Mike snapped. "It doesn't matter anyway, because I'm not going to see her again."

"Do you want to?" Micky asked pointedly.

"I don't know, Micky," Mike answered honestly. "Maybe. Why does that matter?"

"It matters because I can't stand to see you hurt again, Mike," Micky answered. "Please don't do this."

"Who cares, Micky?" Mike yelled. "It's my life! At least this time I would go into it with the truth out there. I would know what I was getting into. If that's what I even wanted to do."

"Mike…" Micky started.

"I never said I wanted to, Micky," Mike cut him off. "But if I did, what would you do?"

"Everything in my power to stop you," Micky answered.

"What is your problem, Micky?" Mike demanded losing his cool and pushing him a little. He wasn't sure if he did want to try again with Heather, but the sheer fact that Micky would still be so dead set against him pissed him off. "I'm an adult and so is she! If we want to try again, who the hell are you to try and stop it? I know you wanna play this macho little brother thing, but just because she's your sister, doesn't mean…"

"Fuck you, Mike!" Micky roared cutting him off. "You think that's what this is about!? It's never been about that! I could give a shit less who you dated! Hell, you could date Rose who's like a sister or even Sarah as long as it made you happy! That's all I've ever cared about! Heather is only my sister by birth and she's a crappy one at that; you are my family by choice, Mike! I opposed your relationship from the start because I knew what kind of person she was! I knew she would only hurt you! And I didn't want it to happen, Mike! I didn't want you to get hurt!"

"Stop fighting," Peter pled at the bottom of the stairs. Neither of them had heard Peter come down, so they both jumped a little. It really shouldn't have been much of a surprise to either of them because of how loudly they were yelling at each other. Davy stood at the top of the stairs with a look of despair, fear and anger mixing on his face. Peter just looked disappointed in them. Mike immediately felt guilty for some of the things they said. Micky's words had hit him. He spent the last four years thinking Micky had disapproved of the relationship because it was with his sister; now he understood Micky knew what Mike didn't. He really was only trying to look out for Mike, not his sister.

"I'm going to take a shower," Mike said unable to bring himself to say anything else. Micky didn't respond allowing Mike to walk into the bathroom unopposed. He almost wished he hadn't, because now he was alone with his thoughts. And because of the pounding in his skull, he couldn't work any of them out. He had no idea what he was doing or why he was doing it.

* * *

Micky felt bad for exploding on Mike like he had, but he couldn't contain his anger any longer so he said nothing as Mike walked into the bathroom to take a shower. Micky sighed and sat down as Peter crossed the living room over to him. Davy slowly made his way down the stairs. The looks on their faces tore through Micky's heart like a knife.

"I'm sorry, guys," Micky said burying his face in his hands.

"It's ok, Micky," Peter said. "What happened?"

"He slept with her," Micky answered.

"He what!?" Davy exclaimed. "Why would he do something like that?!"

"He says he was drunk, but…" Micky started.

"But what?" Peter asked.

"Something isn't really sitting right with me," Micky said.

"What?" Davy asked.

"Well, he said they had a bottle of whiskey," Micky started leaning back in the chair deep in thought. "He said they were both drunk. But that doesn't make sense."

"Why not?" Peter asked.

"My sister can drink a lot before getting drunk," Micky answered. "She wouldn't be drunk off one bottle of whiskey let alone splitting one. Mike's a bit of a lightweight; he got trashed off a bottle before, but if they shared it, I doubt he would have been that drunk."

"You think he lied?" Peter asked shocked.

"No," Micky answered.

"Then what?" Davy asked. "If he didn't lie about it and he wasn't drunk, what do you think happened?" Micky had a theory, but he didn't want to voice it. He was afraid if he voiced it, it would become true. He had to find out before discussing it with Peter and Davy to keep them from getting hurt. If he told them his theory and he was wrong, it would devastate them. There was really no use in exposing them to something like that without reason for it.

"I'm not really sure," Micky answered finally. "But I have to find out."

"How are you going to do that?" Davy asked. "Are you going back there? I don't think that's a good idea."

"I have to, Davy," Micky sighed heavily. "If we're going to find out how she got him to sleep with her. I'm just hoping that he had more to drink than he thinks he did."

"It would have to be that if he didn't lie," Peter said.

"Not necessarily," Micky answered still not wanting to go too much into it. "But I have to go back to that hotel room."

"Micky, you can't confront her again," Peter said.

"I don't plan on confronting her," Micky answered. "At least not right away. I wouldn't believe anything she had to tell anyway. But if I dig around in the room, maybe I can find something to either prove or disprove my theory."

"You have a theory?" Davy asked.

"That's all it is," Micky said. "I need proof one way or another before I tell you."

"But how are we going to do that?" Davy asked.

"I have the key still," Micky answered. "In all the yelling, I guess we all forgot."

"Micky, this sounds like a really bad idea," Peter said.

"I agree with Micky," Davy said. "If she did something to him, we need to find out. Micky, you said you figured out what game she was playing before. What was it?"

"I don't know for sure," Micky said. "Again, I have to check. I don't want to freak you guys out needlessly."

"Ok, go back to the hotel," Davy said. "I'll stay here with Mike and cover for you. Peter, go with him and make sure he doesn't get into trouble?"

"Isn't breaking into someone's hotel room getting into trouble?" Peter asked.

"Peter, she may have done something to hurt Mike," Davy said. "I think that trumps anything else. I'm talking taking another baseball bat to her kind of trouble. Find some way to lure her away, then wait till she leaves and play lookout while Micky digs around. If that...woman hurt Mike, I wanna know. Don't you?"

"Yeah," Peter answered. Micky almost chuckled at Davy having caught himself. He could tell Davy wanted to say something else, but restrained himself in front of Peter. He could also tell Peter had some reservations about sneaking around in her room, but Peter also agreed with Davy. They had to find out exactly what she'd done to Mike. They had to keep him safe.


	14. Drugged

Author's Note: Ok, school's starting tomorrow, so homework comes first. (yes, it does, Midgie) So I may have more time between postings. But more reviews would motivate me to write faster.

Chapter 14: Drugged

"How do we get her out of there?" Peter asked as Micky pulled up to the hotel parking lot and looked at the room Heather was in.

"I don't know," Micky answered. Before they had to think too hard on it, she walked out on her own. "Well that's convenient. Let's make this fast before she comes back."

"Micky, I don't like this," Peter said as he followed behind Micky. Micky sighed heavily as he put the key in the lock.

"I know you don't, Peter," Micky said opening the door. "But it has to be done. To protect Mike."

"Maybe I should have stayed home and Davy should have come with you," Peter said following Micky in.

"No," Micky said. "Davy wouldn't be able to stop me from hurting Heather if I got the urge. You would."

"Ok," Peter relented.

"Stay watch," Micky said as he started looking around the room. Peter stood by the door and watched out the window for her. Micky moved first to the closet and opened it. Inside were only a few clothes, but most of them looked pretty skimpy. "Well, these don't exactly help support the new little good girl image she's trying to pass off to Mike."

"Maybe she just hasn't had time to go shopping," Peter suggested innocently. Micky shook his head a little and moved on to the dresser next to the bed. He pulled open the drawer and rolled his eyes at the condom sitting atop the bible found in every hotel room.

"That's nice," Micky mumbled picking up the condom and inspecting it.

"Is that what I think it is?" Peter asked.

"Yeah," Micky said rubbing his hand over the wrapper. He felt a small distortion on the wrapper so he walked over to the bathroom and filled up the sink with a little bit of water.

"I don't see what's so bad about that," Peter said. "At least she was using protection."

"Yes, but why would she need to have these if she's trying to better herself," Micky said. "Remember, she used to be a stripper and a high-end prostitute. If she's going to therapy and reforming herself, she shouldn't be having sex. Period. And…" Micky said putting the condom in the water. He saw small bubbles escape from the wrapper and rise to the surface as the wrapper expanded. "Why would she be poking holes in them?"

"Holes?" Peter asked.

"It's an old trick girls use when they want to trick a guy into getting her pregnant," Micky said. "You take a small needle and poke a hole in the wrapper. The whole is imperceptible, but basically destroys the condom. My aunt did it with her lover. Only he got pissed and killed her."

"She's trying to get pregnant?" Peter asked. "With Mike's baby?"

"I don't know," Micky answered. "This wasn't used. She could be saving it for someone else. Though I doubt that."

"Why would she do that?" Peter asked.

"I don't know, Peter," Micky answered honestly. Micky pocketed the condom after drying it off and continued his search. He still didn't understand how she had convinced Mike to sleep with her. His eyes fell on the bottle of whisky and crossed over to it. He brought the bottle to his nose and smelled. It smelled normal, but then again, he expected it to.

"Anything?" Peter asked still standing by the door.

"No," Micky answered. "Not yet."

"What are you expecting to find exactly?" Peter asked. Micky didn't answer right away. He still didn't want to tell Peter he thought she had drugged Mike. Not without proof. He dug around a little longer, but didn't find anything. Until he pulled open the drawer in her dresser. He saw a few garments in it, but not much. He supposed she'd been here for a few days. No one was really sure how she had even tracked Mike down, but Micky guessed it would at least have taken her a few days to find them. Inside the drawer mixed with provocative lingerie was a tiny little glass bottle with an eye dropper cap. He pulled it out, only to find it empty save for a tiny amount at the bottom. "What is that?"

"I don't know for sure," Micky answered. Micky looked at Peter and felt that he finally had to voice his theory. The little bottle in his hand wasn't exactly a smoking gun, but it was as close to evidence as he'd find. There wasn't anything else that could possibly have been in this bottle. "I think we should give this to Rose to test it."

"For what?" Peter asked.

"For drugs," Micky answered.

"You think she drugged him?" Peter asked.

"There really is no other explanation," Micky sighed. "I was hoping to find more than just an empty bottle of whiskey, but there is only one bottle here and this. And it's practically empty. So she used it on someone."

"You don't know she didn't use it on herself," Peter said. "Maybe it was medicine or something."

"Peter, I love how trusting you are, but nothing adds up to that," Micky said. "Everything adds up to her drugging Mike. I just don't know why."

"So what do we do?" Peter asked.

"We give this to Rose," Micky answered. "See what she can come up with."

"You said that, but what about Mike?" Peter asked.

"I don't know," Micky answered. "I'm not even sure he'll believe us if we tell him. I doubt he will though. So maybe we should just keep this quiet from him for now. At least until Rose gets back to us with whatever this is. Let's go before Heather comes back."

* * *

Davy checked on Sarah once Peter and Micky left to make sure that she was still sleeping. She had fallen asleep not long after they had first gotten home 5 hours ago. He walked in and pulled the sheets up further to keep her warm and once he was satisfied she was still sleeping soundly, he left. He paced the living room for a while, deep in thought. He was worried about Mike and wondered what Micky expected to find in Heather's hotel room. He got the distinct impression that Micky was deliberately trying to hide something from him to protect him, but he also thought he knew what it was.

The only thing other than alcohol that could persuade someone to do something they didn't want to do was drugs. He didn't really know much of anything about them at all, but guessed Micky did from the look on his face. And if Mike wasn't lying, which Davy highly doubted because Mike would never lie to them, and he wasn't drunk, that really only left being drugged. He really hoped Micky was wrong and that Mike had drank more than he thought he had. But something nagging at the back of his mind told him Micky was right.

He was yanked from his thoughts when he heard a crashing and thumping noise coming from the bathroom. His heart stopped and he rushed over to the bathroom and ripped the door open. Inside, Mike was lying completely rigid on the floor with his legs over the edge of the tub. A second after Davy entered, Mike started convulsing on the floor. Davy knelt down next to Mike and grabbed a towel to shove under his head to keep his head from hitting the floor. Other than that, he had no idea what he was supposed to do.

"Mike?" Davy pled desperate to try anything. "What's going on?" But of course Mike didn't answer. He really didn't know what else to do other than call 9-1-1, so he dashed out to grab the phone, but in his panic tripped over the rug in the middle of the floor and crashed to the floor. He pushed himself up quickly and grabbed the phone quickly punched the numbers into it.

"9-1-1, what is your emergency?" a female voiced asked on the other end.

"I think my friend is having a seizure," Davy all but yelled. "Please help. I'm at 1334 north Beechwood."

"Ok, remain calm, sir," the woman said. "We're sending someone. Place a towel under his head."

"I did," Davy answered.

"Good," she said. "Is he stable?"

"He's in the bathroom," Davy answered. "Please just hurry."

"We have someone on the way," she said. "Make sure he stays stable. Once the seizure stops and you notice his body relaxing, turn him on his side and make sure there's nothing else around that can hurt him. Make sure he keeps breathing."

"Davy?" Sarah asked from the doorway. Davy froze. He'd forgotten all about Sarah and her fear of hospitals. And he couldn't just leave her here alone. He had no idea what he was going to do. "What's going on?"

"Mike," Davy answered. "He's having a seizure. I'm calling an ambulance."

"Oh God," Sarah said and ran toward the bathroom.

"Please hurry," Davy said again into the phone and hung up. He dashed off toward the bathroom to find Mike had now gone completely limp and Sarah was kneeling next to him. She had taken the towel out from under his head and draped it across him to keep him covered and had already turned him on his side. "Sarah, I had to call an ambulance. I don't know what's wrong with him."

"It's ok," Sarah answered. "Where are Micky and Peter?"

"Uh…" Davy said not sure how much he should share with her. "I guess when Mike came home, Micky found out that Mike sorta slept with Heather."

"Sorta?" Sarah asked.

"He said he was drunk," Davy clarified. "They got into a fight over it and Mike went to take a shower but Micky told me and Peter he thought maybe something else had happened. That his sister wouldn't have gotten drunk very easily."

"He thinks she drugged him," Sarah finished.

"Yeah," Davy said. "He said he had to find out. I told Peter to go with him to make sure he stayed out of trouble. But that also means that they aren't here. I don't want to leave you alone, but I have to go with Mike…"

"It's fine," Sarah said. "Go with him. I'll be fine here. Besides, someone has to be here when Micky and Peter get back to tell them what happened."

"Are you sure?" Davy asked.

"Positive," Sarah answered as they both heard the sirens of the coming ambulance. "He needs you with him and I should tell Micky what happened. Don't tell the doctors you think he might have been drugged. We shouldn't get the police involved until we know for sure."

"Isn't that a bad idea?" Davy asked. "What if they give him something that interacts with the drugs she gave him?"

"It wouldn't matter because we have no idea what she even gave him," Sarah answered.

"You think he was drugged though?" Davy asked.

"I know Heather," Sarah answered simply. "I don't trust her. Go meet the medics." Davy nodded and rushed over to the front door to let them in. Davy stood back reluctantly as he watched them work. They made Sarah get up and leave the room, as well as they began to check on Mike. He barely heard one of the medics talking to Davy as he stared at Mike. They checked his pulse and shined a light into his eyes while trying to rouse Mike.

"Sir, what's your name?" the medic talking to Davy asked.

"Davy Jones," Davy answered.

"Ok, what's your friend's name?" the medic asked.

"Mike Nesmith," Davy answered.

"How old is he?"

"He just turned 23."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. He went to take a shower. I heard a crash and a thump and found him like that. He was shaking."

"Has he ever had a seizure before?"

"No. What's happening?"

"I don't know yet, Mr. Jones. We're going to do our best. Do you have any idea what might have caused this? Did he take anything?"

"Not that I know of. He had a little whiskey earlier today. He doesn't do drugs though."

"Ok, what happened to you?"

"Huh?"

"Your forehead is bleeding." Davy touched his forehead not having realized that he'd even been injured.

"I tripped trying to get to the phone," Davy said not really caring much about himself.

"That's fine, Mr. Jones. It doesn't look that bad. Just probably need a bandage to cover it. Sit down."

"Is Mike going to be ok?" Davy asked sinking into the chair.

"You did the right thing, Mr. Jones," the medic answered kneeling down. He pulled some strange looking scissors off a loop on his pants and pulled some gauze and tape out of a pocket.

"Davy, relax," Sarah said as the medic cleaned Davy's forehead and put the gauze on the cut. "They're doing the best they can."

"We need to get him to the hospital," another medic said coming out of the bathroom with Mike on the stretcher. He then carried Mike out the front door with a third medic and Davy jumped up to follow.

"We can't allow both of you back there," the first medic said.

"That's ok, I'm staying here," Sarah said. "I'm going to wait until the rest of our roommates get home. Tell them what's going on."

"Alright," the medic nodded and led Davy out to the waiting ambulance. Davy waved at Sarah before they closed the doors and the ambulance started moving. The medic that had been talking to Davy started an IV in Mike's arm while another one picked up a radio and started talking into it.

"We're en route with a 23 year old caucasian male post grand mal," he said. "Still unresponsive. Cause unknown. BP 100 over 60. Pulse 68. O2 90 and respiratory rate 14. ETA 3 minutes." Davy waited silently as they continued hooking things to Mike. A few minutes later, Mike's body arched and tensed again and Davy's stomach flipped.

"He's going into another seizure," the first medic said. There wasn't much they could do as Mike suddenly started shaking again. Davy tried to grab Mike in the hopes that he could somehow stop him from shaking, but the medic held him back. Davy broke down and started sobbing. He didn't know what was wrong with his friend and there was nothing he could do to help him. Once they arrived at the hospital, Davy tried to follow them all the way to Mike's hospital room, but the medic who had placed the gauze on his head held him back.

"I need to be with him," Davy argued.

"You need to wait here," the medic said. "You need to let the doctors do their job and help him."

"What's happening to him?" Davy demanded.

"We don't know, but you need to wait here and stay out of their way. You can't crowd them. You have to let them do their job. They'll talk to you when they know anything." Davy reluctantly stood there and started pacing. He had no idea what was going on with Mike and hated it. A few seconds later, he heard a woman's voice over an intercom saying "Code Blue". Davy had no idea what that meant, but through the window in the door, he saw dozens of people rushing down the hallway he'd just seen Mike pushed down. He walked over to a nurse behind a counter and begged for her attention as she started to run toward the doors too.

"What is that?" Davy asked. "What's a code blue? My friend's back there. What's going on?"

"Sir, please remain calm," she said firmly. "Have a seat and we'll tell you when we know more."

"That's my best friend!" Davy exclaimed blowing up. "What is going on!?"

"There's no guarantee that it's in relation to your friend," she said. "But a code blue means someone's stopped breathing and no longer has a pulse." With that she turned and ran down the hallway to join the commotion of other doctors leaving Davy to stand there frozen in fear. Davy felt sick to his stomach. Mike wasn't breathing and his heart had stopped. There was no way Davy would be able to make it through if they couldn't revive him. His thoughts quickly turned to Micky. He could only imagine how guilty Micky would feel if Mike died. If his last words to Mike had been the harsh yelling and biting words, Micky would hate himself.


	15. Complications

Author's Note: School has begun, so my time in between posts might be a little longer. Gonna try and keep up on it, but homework comes first.

Chapter 15: Complications

Peter and Micky pulled up to the garage of their pad and made their way inside. Micky told Peter on the way home that he was going to call Rose when they got back to the pad to meet them somewhere away from Mike so he could give her the bottle to test. Peter was still trying to give Heather the benefit of the doubt, but Micky knew his sister better than that. He had no doubt that there had been some sort of inhibitor in the bottle that she'd poured into the whiskey she shoved down his throat. His mind raced over reasons why she would be trying to get pregnant, but he couldn't settle on a definitive answer. When they walked in, they were surprised to find Sarah sitting impatiently at the table.

"Where's Davy?" Peter asked but Micky knew what the look on her face meant.

"What happened?" Micky asked.

"It's Mike," Sarah answered getting up and pulling him into a hug. He felt himself fill with terror as he realized something terrible must have happened. "Davy took him to the hospital."

"What?" Peter asked fearfully.

"He had a seizure or something," Sarah answered. "Davy heard him collapse in the shower and went to check on him. He had to call for help. They took him to the hospital about 15 minutes ago. I told them I'd stay behind to tell you what happened."

"We have to go," Peter said rushing toward the door. He stopped, however, when he realized Micky wasn't right behind him. It's not that Micky didn't want to rush head first out that door to join Davy in the hospital, but he couldn't leave Sarah behind alone and he couldn't bring her with him. He didn't know what to do.

"It's ok, Micky," Sarah said looking into his eyes. She'd always been able to read him. "I can stay here if you want me to. Or I can go. I'll be fine either way."

"I can't leave you here alone," Micky answered. "It's not safe. But if we take you, they might recognize you. You're an escaped patient still."

"What if she wore a disguise," Peter suggested.

"A disguise?" Sarah asked with a slight hint of disbelief in her voice.

"Yeah, we wear them all the time," Peter answered running to the closet. "We get in all sorts of weird situations where we need them. Never understood why or how. But maybe with a hat and a wig, you can fit in. Just keep your face hidden."

"It might work," Micky said, but a part of him didn't agree. He didn't want to risk anything.

"It's fine," Sarah smiled at him. "It'll work. I'll have you both to keep me safe."

"I'm going to call Rose and have her meet us at the hospital," Micky said. "Peter, make sure no one will recognize her." Peter nodded and pulled a wig and large sunhat out of the closet. Micky rushed over to the phone and dialed the number to the police department. When the receptionist answered, he asked to speak with Rose. He was transferred to her desk and she answered immediately.

"This is Detective Matthews," she answered.

"Rose, it's me," Micky said quickly. "I don't have a lot of time to explain, but I need you to meet me at the hospital. Something happened to Mike and I think Heather had something to do with it. I need you to take a look at the evidence I've got and tell me what it is."

"I'll be there as soon as I can," rose answered before hanging up. Micky hung up and looked over at Peter and Sarah. The hat hid her face fairly well and Peter had positioned the wig so it hugged her face to hide it even more. She looked a little ridiculous in such a large hat with a tiny body, but it would have to do.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Micky asked.

"Let's go," she answered following Peter to the door. They drove the entire way to the hospital in silence; they were all terrified of what was going to happen to Mike. When they got to the hospital 5 minutes later, Peter parked the car very quickly and they all jumped out. Once inside, it didn't take long to find Davy. They heard him before they saw him.

"I am sick of you idiots telling me to sit down and wait!" Davy yelled at a young nurse behind the counter in the waiting room. "I've been waiting 20 damn minutes and I'm tired of waiting! Why will no one in this whole bloody place tell me anything! I DEMAND to know what is wrong with my friend!"

"Sir, if you'll sit down and wait, someone will tell you what we know as soon as we know it," the woman said patiently as if she'd dealt with this kind of scene hundreds of times. "If you'd like, I can ask security to help you find a seat."

"That won't be necessary," Peter said running up behind Davy and pulling him away. "Will it, Davy?"

"They won't tell me anything!" Davy protested trying to fight Peter off. "He stopped breathing and his heart stopped 20 minutes ago!"

"Davy, calm down," Micky said firmly. Davy finally listened and stopped fighting. He allowed Peter to guide him to a seat with Sarah behind him while Micky turned to talk to the nurse. "I'm sorry about my friend; he gets irritated easily."

"I've seen it a lot," she answered.

"What _can_ you tell me?" Micky asked. "Did they have to resuscitate him?"

"I told your friend that there was a code blue on Mr. Nesmith, but I don't know anything beyond that," she said. "They have a lot they have to do to keep him stable. As soon as the doctors are able, they will come talk to you."

"Thank you," Micky said and walked away to join Peter, Davy and Sarah.

"What'd they say?" Peter asked.

"They don't know anything," Micky answered. "Other than they're trying to stabilize him. If the code blue was called 20 minutes ago, he's still alive."

"How are you so sure?" Davy asked irritably.

"Because they wouldn't be working for 20 minutes to revive him," Micky answered simply. "And as soon as they stopped trying, they'd send someone out here to talk to us. That hasn't happened, so he's still alive. They must have been able to restart his heart, but they're doing a lot to keep it going. We need to let them do their jobs. We distract them and they'll fail."

"I just want to know what's happening," Davy muttered. "I don't know why he did that. He was on the floor and shaking. Then in the ambulance…"

"He had two seizures?" Micky asked when Davy trailed off.

"Yeah," Davy answered looking as though he were going to fight back tears. "I don't know why. What did she do to him?"

"I don't know," Micky answered with a sigh. "But I found a bottle in her drawer. I have no idea what was in it, though. I told Rose to meet me here so she can test it."

"So she did drug him?" Davy asked.

"We don't know for sure," Peter said. Sarah rolled her eyes a little and leaned into Micky to try and hide her face a little more. "It could have been anything in that bottle. And we don't know she put it in his drink."

"Davy, did you tell them anything?" Micky asked ignoring Peter.

"I didn't know what to tell them," Davy said. "I thought maybe you thought Heather drugged him, but I didn't know. And Sarah said it would be best not to get the cops involved until we know for sure."

"I'd rather not involve them at all," Micky said. "Word could easily get back to my family and his. Attention we really don't need."

"If she drugged him, we can't just let her get away with it!" Davy argued.

"Don't worry," Micky answered. "She won't."

"What does that mean, Micky?" Peter asked. Before Micky could answer, the double doors leading back to the treatment area opened and a doctor emerged with a chart. He looked at it for a moment and looked around at the throng of people in the waiting room.

"David Jones for Mike Nesmith?" he asked. The four of them immediately jumped up and dashed over to him.

"I'm Davy Jones," Davy said quickly.

"We're friends of Mike's too," Micky said when the doctor looked at the other three quizzically for a second. "We're all roommates. We're like brothers. Is he ok?"

"Follow me," the doctor said simply and turned back towards the doors. He led them down a long hallway and into a room. Micky's stomach dropped instantly when he saw Mike lying on the hospital bed in the middle of the room unconscious and hooked up to various monitoring and IV machines.

"Is he gonna be ok?" Peter asked rushing immediately over to Mike's side.

"We aren't entirely sure yet," the doctor answered. "It looks very good for Mr. Nesmith for now. But I worry about his future. Are you sure he didn't take any medication or drugs that would have caused a reaction like this?"

"Yes," Micky said before any of the others could answer. If Heather even got so much as interrogated for drugging someone, it would get back to his father and the aftermath would not be pretty. Even if they kept her name out of it, there would be no doubt Mike's dad would find out that he'd been drugged and would make sure Mike was keeping true to his word by staying silent. Mike's dad may be tempted to kill him to ensure Mike kept his silence. And there was no way Micky was going to risk that. If that meant he'd have to take care of this on his own to protect his friend, he would. "Mike doesn't do drugs and he doesn't need any medication. He's been under a lot of stress lately."

"Well, it appears he actually reacted to the anti-seizure medication the medics gave him during the second seizure," the doctor said. "That's what stopped his heart. We're running a tox screen to see what comes up. Until then, we managed to stabilize him, but we are going to keep him asleep to monitor him further in case he has any other seizures. Without knowing what's in his system, we can't say for sure what caused the initial seizure. They don't happen spontaneously."

"What happens then?" Davy asked. "When the tests are done?"

"We'll go from there," the doctor answered. "They should be back in a few hours. For now he's stable and I wouldn't worry too much. But if there's anything you want to tell me, do so now."

"Everything's fine," Micky reassured the doctor. The doctor seemed distrusting, but nodded and left the room nonetheless.

"Micky, maybe we should have said something," Peter said nervously. "If the meds they gave him stopped his heart, they should know she drugged Mike."

"Peter, I don't have any clue what she gave him for one," Micky answered making sure the door was shut all the way so no one would overhear them. "For two, we can't get the cops involved. Mike's dad is a prominent lawyer. No doubt he'd catch wind that his son was being drugged, freak out thinking maybe Mike might talk about the things going on in his house and decide to kill Mike just to make sure he stays silent. My dad finds out that Heather is being investigated for this, he'll come deal with her himself. The only reason he didn't do it before is probably because the offense was minor. This could go down as attempted murder or rape. I can't risk my dad coming out here, getting involved in this and finding me or Sarah and Rose."

"Well, if they find out what's in his blood, won't they know he was drugged?" Davy asked.

"I know," Micky said starting to pace nervously. "I can't let them find anything in that blood."

"What choice do we have?" Peter asked. Micky had no idea what they were going to do, but had to think fast. Before he could come up with something, there was a soft knock on the door. Micky opened it to find the nurse from the waiting room escorting Rose into the room.

"There really shouldn't be this many people in here for that long," the nurse said.

"I won't be long," Rose answered.

"Thank you," Micky said. The nurse nodded and walked away.

"What's going on?" Rose asked. Micky informed her about everything he knew about, even the blood test they were running on Mike. When he informed Rose about the poked out condom and the thought she might be trying to get pregnant, Davy's face fell.

"We have to do something," Micky finished. "We can't let them find out what's in Mike's system. It can't get back to the family. Mine or his."

"I know," Rose said casting a concerned glance at Mike's still sleeping form on the bed. "I think I have an idea how to get around that. But it won't be easy."

"I'll do whatever it takes," Micky said. "I can't let them hurt Mike."

"Come with me," Rose said. "And hand me the bottle." Micky handed her the bottle before following her outside. She peeked around to make sure no one was watching them too closely and led him down the hallway to a supply closet. The two snuck inside and she started looking around for something.

"What's your plan?" Micky asked.

"We need to switch his blood before they test it," Rose said. "I've dealt with blood tests before. It's probably sitting on the counter waiting to be tested. If we can switch his blood out for yours, they'll test your blood and won't find a thing."

"That's actually a pretty good idea," Micky said.

"You say that like you're surprised," Rose laughed.

"A little," Micky answered as she found a needle and vial.

"Roll up your sleeve," she said. Micky did as she instructed and trusted her to do draw his blood. She'd been taught about as much about medicine as he had growing up and knew exactly what she was doing. She tightened a tourniquet around his upper arm and found the vein in his arm. He winced slightly when she poked the needle in him.

"How are you going to get into the lab to switch it out?" Micky asked.

"I'm a cop, Micky," she said undoing the tourniquet to let the vial fill with blood. "My badge gets me almost everywhere."

"Almost?" Micky asked.

"Can't get into government places without clearance, of course," she smiled. "Don't worry. I'll deal with this. You just take care of Sarah and Mike. I'll drop this bottle off at our lab claiming it's evidence in a case I'm looking into and I need a rush on it. I should have results by morning. I have no doubt she drugged him, but you're right. He won't believe us without proof."

"The only thing I can't figure out is why she wants to get pregnant," Micky said as she took the needle out and pocketed the vial. Micky grabbed a cotton ball and held it against the bleeding puncture in his arm while Rose got the tape to cover it.

"She's sick, Micky," Rose said. "There may not be a reason. But you have to start thinking about what might happen if she does get pregnant."

"There's no way I'm going let her raise that baby if she does," Micky answered a little angrily.

"You have to be careful," Rose said seriously. "You can't kidnap someone else's baby. Giving up ours was one thing. This will be different."

"Ours?" Micky asked though he knew what she meant.

"You know that's how I have to think of it, Micky," she said looking down. "I can't accept that she was your father's or brothers. I just can't live with myself if I think that way."

"I know," Micky said. "Go, switch out those vials and get that test done on that bottle. We'll figure everything else out later."

"Hide that," Rose said pointing at the puncture on his arm. Micky nodded and they both slipped out of the supply closet unnoticed. Micky went back to his friends, but decided not to tell them the plan yet. Peter was never good at keeping secrets. Not that Micky faulted him for that. He just assured them that they had worked out a plan and Mike was going to be ok. Micky wanted desperately to just go confront Heather and deal with her right then and there, but he couldn't bring himself to leave Mike. And even though she was fairly hidden under the hat and wig, Micky wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he left and something happened to her.

He had no doubt that Peter and Davy would do everything they could to keep her safe, but he couldn't guarantee that their best would be good enough. He couldn't even guarantee his best would be good enough. But he had to stay. He knew she was leaving, but he'd figure out how to track her down in LA and make her pay for what she had done to Mike. But he couldn't leave Mike until he knew for sure Mike would be ok. So he relented to just sitting there with his friends until they learned more about Mike's condition.


	16. Truth and Consequences

Author's Note: Not sure if you're all reading this, but I want to give a quick thanks to some wonderful people: BluCrayonsRTasty, Dolenz, Farfisa, JediStarMonkee, Cellomouse, and Justpatches. You know why and I want to thank you all again. Truly, truly wonderful people. Monkee friends make the best friends ever. :D

Chapter 16: Truth and Consequences

Micky had sat in the room with Peter, Sarah, and Davy all waiting for Mike to respond at all. It had been hours, and he hadn't moved. The doctor had said he'd given Mike some medications to help him sleep and so not to expect too much from Mike for a while, but the longer it took for Mike to wake up, the more anxious he got. After about 4 hours, Sarah said she had to use the bathroom so he went with her to help her if she needed it. When they got back, he heard a conversation and stopped for a moment to listen.

"I don't know, Davy," Peter was saying. "I just think should think this through. If we just let Micky take things into his own hands, that would be really bad."

"Peter, she has to pay for what she did," Davy answered. "She drugged him so she could have sex with him and nearly killed him in the process. She shouldn't be able to just get away with that!"

"We don't know that's what really happened," Peter said.

"Oh, come off it, Peter!" Davy exclaimed. "Even you're not this stupid!"

"I just think we should find out for sure before we do anything," Peter said. "And maybe she just needs help. Look at what they went through growing up. Who would be normal after that?"

"Micky is," Davy argued.

"He wasn't," Peter said. "You heard him admit he had problems with drinking. And besides, he has us."

"Not good enough," Davy spat. "She's sick and no amount of mental help can fix her. She did the same thing to Mike that was done to her. No amount of therapy in the world can help her now."

"So you're ok with Micky killing her?" Peter asked softly. Davy hesitated for a moment then spoke.

"Seeing one of my best friends like this and knowing that horrible wretch of a woman essentially raped him, yeah," Davy said. "Who knows how many other people she's done this to and how many more she will. We have to stop her somehow. We have to make her pay for what she did to Mike. And the law can't touch her without Mike and Micky going down and getting hurt worse. We have to deal with this ourselves. If I can, I'll be right there next to Micky when he does it, too. My only concern is for Micky."

"I've never seen him like this," Peter agreed. "Killing someone, no matter how evil they are, and I'm not ready to say she is, can weigh very heavily on someone. I don't know if Micky can handle that."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Davy said. "I'm worried about him getting in trouble with the police. Or his dad finding out or something."

"I know enough about the law to kill someone and get away with it," Micky said opening the door. "Trust me."

"Micky…" Peter started but trailed off when he saw Sarah sit down. He must have decided he didn't want to talk about this stuff in front of her. If only he knew how much Sarah had seen and been a part of. But Micky desperately wanted to shield him from as much as he could.

"It's ok, Peter," Micky said. "I won't tell you anything. You don't have to help me. In fact, none of you are going to. I'm getting Rose's help to find out exactly what's in that bottle, but that's it."

"But-" Davy started.

"No "but"s, Davy," Micky said taking his seat again. "No arguing on this. I can't let you guys get any more involved than you already are. Besides, I'm gonna need you guys to focus on finding evidence against the hospital Sarah was at so we can help all those other people there."

"How do we do that?" Davy asked.

"Best I can guess is just keep an eye on the hospital itself," Micky said. "Try and dig up some dirt on the doctor or the employees and a history of any incidents that happened there. If we can, sneak in and try to find physical evidence. Though if he's operating like my dad was, I doubt there will be much."

"There has to be," Peter said. "We have to help those people. We can't just leave them there."

"No one's disagreeing with you, Peter," Micky said with a heavy sigh. "But unfortunately, the world isn't as fair as that."

"What happens if we can't find anything?" Davy asked.

"We'll deal with that if and when we get there," Micky answered. "For now, we just need to focus on the task. We can talk to Rose and see what she thinks we need to do."

"I can tell you everything I know," Sarah said. "It's not much, I'm afraid. I was pretty drugged out most of the time."

"Whatever you can tell us will help," Micky said pulling her close to him. "You don't have to tell us till you're ready."

"It's fine," Sarah said. "The nurses would give us medicine every day. From what I could tell, they were experimental drugs to help boost fertility."

"They were giving you experimental drugs?" Peter asked. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"They had to have someone to test the stuff on," Sarah answered. Micky's stomach turned over at the thought of some sick doctor using her as a guinea pig. "They also gave us drugs that made it so we didn't really fight back when they raped us. If you snuck in, you might be able to find those drugs, but I doubt it you'd be to prove what they were. He was experimenting with them. When he felt like we were ready, the nurses would bring us to his office, put us on his exam table and strap us on so we couldn't fight back. Sometimes he would actually examine us, but most of the time he would rape us and then let the nurses rape us. He documented everything, so if you can find those notes, that would be more proof. The only problem is, he keeps them locked up in his office. It'll be hard to get in there."

"We need anything we find to hold up in court," Micky said. "So we need to find evidence for Rose to get a search warrant so she can find all this. Otherwise whatever we get from inside won't do us any good." They sat for the next few hours sometimes in silence, but other times talking about what they were going to do about the hospital. Only a few times did they talk about Mike. None of them could bear talking too much about what had happened to their friend. Micky didn't want Peter and Davy to really get involved in this any further than absolutely had to. A few times during the night, they took Mike for some tests, but never told any of the boys the results.

Mike didn't wake up until early the next morning. He groaned a little and his eyes fluttered open and closed a few times before staying open. Davy rushed out to get the doctor and let him know Mike was waking up. Mike opened his eyes and looked around a little. Peter stood on one side of the bed and held Mike's hand tightly in his as he woke up.

"Take it easy, Mike," Micky said softly wiping the hair out of Mike's eyes.

"What happened?" Mike asked.

"You had a seizure," Micky answered. "Davy took you to the hospital."

"What do you mean?" Mike asked. Micky didn't exactly want to tell him about his suspicions just yet; he'd wait until Mike was feeling better and they were all at home so as not to upset him while he needed to be recovering. Not to mention he didn't have proof. He was saved further explanation by the doctor coming in to check on Mike. Davy stood next to Peter and Micky backed away to let the doctor do his job, asking Mike questions, testing his reactions, and getting his vital information.

"Can someone explain what's going on?" Mike asked when the doctor had finished.

"You had a seizure, Mr. Nesmith," the doctor said.

"That's what Micky said, but why?" Mike asked.

"We don't really know for sure," the doctor answered. "We ran a blood test and unfortunately found nothing to indicate why this happened. Have you ever had a seizure before?"

"No," Mike answered.

"Do you remember what happened before you had your seizure?" the doctor asked.

"Not really," Mike answered. "I remembered um...talking to Micky and taking a shower. Next thing I know I'm here."

"It's possible you may have fallen and hit your head in the shower," the doctor said. "But it's also possible that there may be an underlying issue we haven't seen yet. None of our tests have shown any signs of trauma or disease. I am not sure what caused this. I would like to keep you here for a while longer and-"

"No," Mike said. "I want to go home. I'm fine."

"Mr. Nesmith, this is pretty serious," the doctor urged. "You need to let us try and figure this out."

"I'm fine," Mike said. "If I have another seizure, I'll come back, but until then, I need to go home. I have things to take care of. And I'd rather just rest at home."

"Mike, are you insane!?" Peter exclaimed. "You need to stay here so they can figure out what happened!"

"Peter, I'm fine," Mike said. "I probably just slipped and fell like the doctor said. It's nothing to worry about."

"Mike, I think you should listen to the doctor and stay here," Davy said.

"Guys, back off," Mike said gruffly. "I'm fine! I want to go home!" They tried for the next hour to convince Mike to stay in the hospital, but he wouldn't listen. He was only growing more and more agitated by the minute until he finally ripped the IV out of his arm and started getting up. They tried to get him to lie back down, but it was no use. Once Mike's mind was set on something, no one could change it. So instead of fighting it, the boys decided to help him so he wouldn't hurt himself worse.

Mike signed the discharge papers assuring the doctor that he'd check in with another doctor for a follow-up in a week, though Micky doubted he'd do that. They'd have to keep pushing Mike throughout the week to go. When they got home, Mike started trying to clean things up a little, but kept rubbing his head as though he were in pain.

A few hours after they got home, Rose called to let Micky know that the reports had come back on the bottle Micky had given her. They couldn't tell what had been in that bottle, but could only say some of the chemicals could cause someone to lose consciousness and even kill in certain concentrations. Micky wasn't going to get his proof, but had to tell Mike anyway. He deserved to know. Micky asked Rose to try and track Heather down and she agreed saying she'd be by later that night with information on Heather and the psychiatric hospital.

"Mike sit down," Micky said about another hour later after Peter and Davy had once again tried to get Mike to take it easy. Micky really didn't want to do this now, but he couldn't stand watching Mike move around the house after just being discharged from the hospital and Micky couldn't really hold the truth in anymore.

"Micky, I'm fine," Mike said.

"We need to talk," Micky answered. Davy and Peter exchanged a worried glance with each other, but sat down in support of Micky anyway.

"Micky, I thought you weren't going to say anything until we had proof?" Sarah asked.

"Well, we aren't getting it," Micky sighed sitting down next to her.

"What are you talking about?" Mike asked.

"Sit down," Micky said. Mike sighed and finally sat down waiting for Micky to explain. Micky took a deep breath before starting. "This isn't going to be something you want to hear, but I think we need to tell you anyway. We think Heather drugged you and that's why you had that seizure."

"What?" Mike asked. "Drugged me?"

"She slipped something into the whiskey you were drinking so you'd sleep with her," Micky said.

"Really?" Mike scoffed. "But yet you don't have proof?"

"We tried to find some," Micky explained. "We snuck into her hotel room while we were gone and found a bottle. I tried to have Rose test it-"

"You did what!?" Mike exclaimed jumping up. "You broke into her hotel room!? What the hell were you thinking!?"

"I was trying to figure out what had happened, Mike," Micky answered trying desperately to keep his cool.

"What happened was I got drunk!" Mike yelled. "I had too much to drink and slipped in the shower! She didn't drug me! She wouldn't! And what's this 'we' shit? Did all of you lose your minds and go along with this?"

"Mike, you should hear him out," Davy said trying to help. Peter just looked upset; as though he were about to start crying any minute.

"No way," Mike answered. "Micky, what you did was uncalled for. It's my life, and I'll thank you to stay the hell out of it!" Before any of them could answer, Mike stormed off and slammed the door to the upstairs bedroom.

"That went well," Sarah sighed. "Maybe you should have just left things alone, Micky. I mean, she's gone back to LA, right? She can't hurt him anymore."

"She's playing something," Micky said. "And I need to figure out what that is and put a stop to it before she kills him."

"He just asked us to leave him alone," Peter said.

"He didn't really ask us," Davy pointed out. "But it doesn't matter to me. I trust Micky here. I know you're still trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, but I won't. What did Rose find?"

"Not much," Micky answered. "Just that the chemicals used could knock someone out and even kill them."

"It's at least proof she's up to no good," Davy said looking at Peter as though he were also trying to convince him.

"I know you guys are so quick to jump on the evil Heather thing, but what if that was meant for her," Peter said. "What if someone were trying to kill her?"

"It was in her underwear drawer," Micky said. "You don't poison someone, then leave the bottle in their underwear drawer."

"I'm just saying we don't have all the facts," Peter said.

"Sometimes I think you're too naive for your own good, Peter," Davy muttered and stood up to take a walk outside to calm down. Micky sighed, knowing Davy didn't mean what he'd said, but he did know they were all getting frustrated. Peter didn't respond; he just sat there looking hurt and stunned.

"You know he's just upset, Peter," Micky said.

"I know," Peter answered forcing a smile. "I'm ok." They all spent the rest of the day in relative silence; no one really knew what to say to the other. Mike stayed in the room on the second floor all day, which Micky admitted he was happy with since it meant Mike wasn't straining himself around the house. But he was worried about how Mike was handling things.

At nightfall, Rose came over just as she had promised. Micky opened the door to let her in and she rushed by him, her face pale and full of worry. Mike had come out of the room to see who was at the door and Davy and Peter had been silently sitting in the living room reading a magazine or book. Sarah and MIcky had been watching TV.

"What's the matter?" Micky asked closing the door behind her.

"I tried tracking down Heather," she started. "And I found her address and her parole officer. She was supposed to meet with him this morning."

"You're tracking down my ex?" Mike asked angrily.

"I asked her to," Micky answered. "What do you mean she was supposed to?"

"She never got there," Rose answered. "I checked with her neighbors and they said they haven't seen her for a week. So I checked with hotel management. They said she never checked out so I went to the hotel myself. One of the other guests said they saw a dark van pull up early this morning and two men got out. They knocked on the door and when she answered, they grabbed her and pulled her into the van."

"She was kidnapped!?" Mike exclaimed.

"That's how it appears," Rose answered.

"Kinda blows your whole theory out of the water, doesn't it, Micky?" Mike snapped then turned to Rose. "You have to find her."

"Trust me, we're looking everywhere," Rose said. "So is her parole officer. We'll find her."


	17. Worse News

Author's Note: Reviews are like crack to me. I need them! REVIEW!

Chapter 17: Worse News

"This doesn't mean I'm wrong, Mike," Micky snapped.

"It doesn't do anything to support your little theory either," Mike argued.

"Guys, enough," Peter said pushing himself in between his two friends before they started going at it again. He couldn't take it if they got into another fight. "It doesn't prove Micky's right."

"Thank you, Peter," Mike said gruffly.

"But it doesn't prove him wrong, either" Peter finished firmly. "You two just need to stop before you rip each other's heads off."

"That's not the worst news," Rose said in the few seconds of uncomfortable silence that followed.

"What else could possibly be worse?" Davy asked.

"I got this file from the hospital," Rose said pulling a folded up paper from her pocket and handed it to Micky. "It's the information on the head psychiatrist." Micky took the paper from her and read it. His face completely drained of color when he read it.

"This is bad," Micky breathed fearfully.

"What?" Davy asked taking the paper from Micky and looking it over. "I don't see anything here that's bad. Dr. Wayne Eichman graduated 30 years ago and settled down at that hospital. Stellar record. Nothing to even hint that he's a maniac."

"Eichman?" Mike echoed.

"Yes," Micky answered. "My real last name. My father's last name. Heather's last name. My uncle's name. That man is my uncle."

"Your name is Micky Eichman?" Davy asked with a slight chuckle.

"Yes, don't laugh," Micky said. "It sounds better when you say Michael Eichman."

"He's your uncle?" Sarah asked. "I didn't recognize him."

"Yeah, well, that's because you've never met him," Micky answered sitting on the couch next to her. "He and my dad had a huge falling out a few years before you even got there. I only met him about 2 or 3 times. I don't even think Rose saw him more than I did."

"I saw him 5 times," Rose answered.

"Really?" Micky asked.

"Yeah, you're mom would take me there on his birthday for a years," Rose answered.

"Lovely," Micky sighed. Peter didn't know what that meant; why would someone take a little girl over to someones house on their birthday? It was after remembering what kind of people they were that he realized what she meant and he suddenly felt like throwing up again.

"Yeah, this is bad," Davy said. "Can we even go after him now?"

"I don't see why not," Rose answered. "It'll just be harder."

"I thought that's why we had to deal with Heather on our own," Peter blurted without thinking. "Because Micky's dad can't get wind of this and come out here."

"What do you mean "deal with Heather"?" Mike asked coldly leveling Micky as Davy hissed reprehensibly at Peter.

"Nothing," Micky quickly. "My dad doesn't give a shit about his brother anymore; it won't be a problem, but I can't be a part of it."

"Don't try and skirt away from this, Micky," Mike snapped. "What did Peter mean? Please tell me you weren't thinking about hurting Heather?"

"Mike, she hurt you," Davy tried coming to Micky's defense.

"She would never hurt me," Mike growled.

"Is that why she left you in the middle of the night without a word hours before you were supposed to get married?" Micky asked. "I know my sister better than you do, and all she knows how to do is play games with people. So yes, I was planning on hurting her to keep her from hurting you any further." The look that washed over Mike's face was unlike anything Peter had ever seen and it sent chills down his spine. As soon as Micky said those words, Mike lunged at him and hit Micky square in the face. Davy, Peter and Rose all rushed to pull Mike off Micky, and despite Mike's injuries, it was a struggle.

"Mike, stop it!" Peter pled stepping once again between his two friends once Davy and Rose had managed to pull Mike far enough away from Micky.

"I'm sorry, Mike," Micky said rubbing his cheek a little. "That kind of proves my point, Mike. There's no way you'd hurt me unless you'd been drugged or something. And you know it. I know you don't want to believe it, but doesn't that kinda prove my point?"

"Micky," Peter cautioned. He knew arguing about this would only make things worse. Mike wasn't in any mood to listen and Peter attributed his anger and aggressiveness to his injury. He just hoped that as soon as Mike's brain healed, he'd be back to normal. In the meantime, it was better to stay off the subject of Heather for everyone's sake. He started to say more, but suddenly Mike dropped to his knees. His face was pale and he looked like he was gonna puke.

"Mike, you ok?" Davy asked kneeling next to him.

"It's the drugs and the seizure," Micky said. "Still wreaking havoc on him. He probably hit his head and got a concussion, too. Get a bucket; he's gonna puke."

"Is that why he's acting like this?" Davy asked grabbing a small trash can from nearby.

"Behavior shifts are an indicator of concussions, drugs, and seizures," Rose answered. Mike leaned over the trashcan and threw upside it. "He could be acting like this for any of those reasons."

"I'm ok now," Mike said after a few moments. "Maybe a little dizzy, but it'll pass." Davy got him a glass of water and sat on the floor next to him.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," Peter said. "Let's just agree to disagree on this Heather thing until, or even if, we find evidence to either prove Micky or Mike right. Let's let the police do their job and try to find her. In the meantime, we have to save those girls at the hospital. Micky, what did you mean you can't be a part of it?"

"I can't have my name involved," Micky answered after a moment. "He can't find out I'm investigating him at all."

"He doesn't have to," Rose answered. "You don't even have to be involved. I was planning on conducting surveillance on the hospital; see if I can't identify some of the employees he's got working for him as sex offenders. That should get me enough to get in there and search the place. But it might take a while."

"I don't want you hanging out there alone," Micky said. "If he catches you…"

"I know very well what he's capable of, Micky," Rose answered and again Peter's stomach flipped. "But what choice do we have?"

"You won't be alone," Mike said forcing himself to stand up. "I'll do it with you."

"Mike, I can't ask you to do that," Rose said.

"You didn't," Mike answered. "Micky's right. About that. You shouldn't do it alone."

"And if he catches both of us?" Rose asked.

"Better two than one," Mike answered.

"You're still hurt, Mike," Peter said not liking the idea at all. "Why don't me or Davy do it."

"No," Mike said firmly. "I've seen what these people do. You haven't. There's no reason to expose either of you to that darkness. Besides, I won't exactly be doing anything strenuous. Just watching the place. Nothing I can hurt myself with."

"I agree with Mike," Micky said. "On this. He goes with Rose."

"We want to help," Davy said.

"And you can," Rose said. "I will still need as much background information on this hospital as I can, including any past incidents. Go to the library and look up anything pertaining to the hospital or Dr. Eichman. News articles. Books. Anything."

"That's gonna be a lot of microfiche to look through," Davy muttered.

"I know, but its something we have to do for this to work," Rose said. "I need as much background information as I can. Any other reports of sexual misconduct, unexplained deaths, anything like that."

"We'll find everything we can," Peter said.

"I was going to start my surveillance tonight..." Rose said casting a glance at Mike.

"Then I'll go get changed," Mike said.

"Mike, you just threw up," Rose said. "You need to rest."

"We'll be sitting in a car all night," Mike said. "I'll be fine. I need to get out of here anyway; get some fresh air." He walked upstairs without allowing anyone else to say another word. Peter was torn; on one hand, he thought it would be good for Mike to get out for a bit in case another fight erupted, but on another hand he wanted Mike to rest as much as he could. So he didn't say anything as Mike and Rose slipped out the front door.

"I'm going out," Micky said. "I'll be back by morning."

"Where are you going?" Peter asked though he thought he knew the answer.

"I have to go find some answers," Micky answered. "I can't keep going like this. I know Mike is only acting like this because of the seizure and concussion, but I need answers for him when he's better."

"You're going to LA?" Davy asked. "This late at night? What do you expect to find in the middle of the night?"

"Maybe nothing," Micky said. "I don't know, but I have to look. I want to look at her apartment, talk to her parole officer, find out whatever I can."

"You shouldn't go alone," Sarah said.

"She's right," Peter said. "I'll go with you."

"Fine," Micky answered. "I'll be back by morning. Sarah, get some sleep."

"I will," Sarah answered. "Be good."

"I will," Micky said. Peter and Micky walked out the door and towards their car. Peter thought it would be best for him to drive; Mike didn't hit Micky that hard, but Micky was still upset and in no condition to be driving. It took almost an hour for them to get to LA and when they did, Micky directed Peter to where he knew the parole officer would most likely be. Together they walked up the steps to the offices and the front desk. Peter stayed back a little while Micky spoke to the person behind the desk.

He was surprised that people were still here this late in the evening, but was glad they hadn't made the trip for nothing. He wasn't sure if he was on Micky's side or Mike's side. He wasn't even sure there really were two sides to this. He knew deep down that Micky was probably right and that Mike knew it, too, but the drugs were messing with his head. Peter just hated to think that people would be capable of hurting someone the way Micky was sure Heather had. When Micky walked back to Peter he pointed toward the elevator.

"She said he's still here," Micky said. "Wrapping up a meeting with another parolee. Third floor."

"What did you say to get her to tell you that?" Peter asked out of curiosity while following Micky to the elevator.

"I told her that we work with Rose at the police station," Micky answered.

"You lied to her?" Peter asked.

"What was I supposed to say?" Micky answered as they got off on the third floor. "If I told her the truth, she wouldn't have given me the information I needed." Peter didn't really answer; he didn't really have one. Micky walked over to a door down the hall and knocked. A minute later, the door opened and revealed two men, one dressed fairly nicely and another in tattered clothes.

"Same time next week," the nicely dressed man said. "Be on time or I'll have a patrol car make sure you're on time from here on out."

"Yes, sir," the tattered man answered but rolled his eyes as he walked away.

"He'll be late next week," the man said before turning to Micky and Peter. "How can I help you gentlemen?"

"Officer Granger, I'm Micky and this is Peter," Micky started. "We're working with Detective Matthews investigating Heather Eichman's disappearance."

"Yes," Granger said stepping aside to let them in his office. "Please, have a seat. I already answered all of her questions. Did you have any more for me?"

"Yes," Micky said. "Just clarification mostly. She was supposed to show up this morning?"

"Yes, we meet every 2 months," Granger said. "We've been meeting for a little under a year when she got out last. We have a standing meeting now. First it was every week, then every month. She's been doing well, so it'll be every 2 months or so until she's off probation now."

"When's that?" Micky asked.

"She's got about another year left," Granger said. "But if she messes up, the sentence can extend. Part of the terms they agreed to when they gave her probation."

"Is it normal for her not to show up to your meetings?" Micky asked.

"Absolutely not," Granger said. "I deal with all kinds of low-life scum. She's one of the few I'd recommend to have her sentence released. She's always been the one to show up early to these meetings. We do random drug and alcohol tests and she's always come up clean."

"She doesn't drink?" Peter asked. A small red flag went up in his head; Mike had said they both had drank the whiskey, yet she hadn't drank in a year. Why would she suddenly start again after such a good streak.

"She used to," Granger said. "Random alcohol tests are part of the conditions of her probation. Its part of everyone's. She has never tested positive."

"What exactly did she go to jail for?" Micky asked.

"Isn't that in your files?" Granger asked.

"Yes, but like I said, these are just clarification questions," Micky said. "People get arrested all the time and only some of the story gets into the files. You know how it is. The charges that don't stick don't always go in the official reports."

"Hooking and robbery, mostly," Granger answered.

"Mostly?" Micky asked.

"Well, the cops who arrested her said they thought she might have been part of an assault," Granger said cautiously. "But I don't believe a damn word of it. I've known that girl a year, and while she's pretty messed up psychologically thanks to her parents, she's not like that."

"What assault?" Micky asked.

"A prominent attorney around here," Granger answered. "He was assaulted in his home and tied to a chair, sodomized and beaten."

"Oh god," Peter breathed. "Why? Why would someone do that?"

"You haven't been doing this very long, have you?" Granger asked. "Sometimes there isn't a reason. But in this case, they think it was revenge. They found dozens of pictures of kids in sexual poses in his home. He confessed and is now among all the other kiddie rapists in prison."

"What makes the cops think she was involved?" Micky asked unfazed by this news.

"Her fingerprints were found there," Granger answered. "But not on any of the weapons. She claims she just broke into his house and stole a few pieces of jewelry. She confessed to all the homes she robbed as part of her plea deal. She's a good kid deep down. She stole to survive and she never hurt anyone. LA's a hard town to get a trick in; sometimes she had to get money to pay her bills another way. She's turning her life around and I hate to see her screw it up now. If you find her, tell her I said that."

"We will," Micky said standing up. "Can you give us her address? We'd like to check with some of her neighbors."

"Sure, but I already did that," Granger said. "No one's seen her since she left for Malibu." They both said good-bye once Micky jotted down her address and left. Peter wasn't really sure what to say the ride over to her apartment; she seemed like she was turning things around, but she had left a few things out when she'd spoken to Mike, it seemed. Mike hadn't mentioned anything about any thefts or assaults. Had she been a part of that assault? Was the man who was assaulted someone who'd hurt her as a child? Did that mean he deserved what happened to him?

This new vision of the world scared Peter. He'd always thought that no one deserved to be hurt, but thinking about what men like that had done to Micky, Rose, Sarah, Heather and Mike made him want to crawl in his bed and never leave. He assumed there were bad people like that out there; that's why there were so many jails, but he had never imagined he'd ever be this close to it. And he was terrified of the way it made him feel. For the first time in his life, he felt he wouldn't be sad to see one of these people get punched in the face.

Peter waited while Micky rummaged through Heather's apartment. Micky had picked the lock and snuck in while no one was really looking. He didn't like snooping and didn't know exactly what he'd be looking for anyway if he helped, so he mainly just stayed out of the way. He looked around at the apartment and noticed how unhomely it seemed. It was a very small one bedroom apartment with no knickknacks or other personal items of note. No posters on the walls, no pictures, not even a fake house plant. Just a couch, TV, coffee table, dining table and bed. The bare necessities. He would hate living here.

"There's nothing here," Micky announced after a few hours of rummaging. "Literally."

"Who lives like this?" Peter asked. "It's so bare."

"Someone who never spends any time here," Micky answered. "I think this may have all just been for show. I doubt she spends very much time here at all."

"Why?" Peter asked. "Where does she stay then?"

"I have no idea," Micky answered. "But we aren't going to get any answers here."

"So we go home then?" Peter asked.

"I want to make one more stop first," Micky said. "I'm hungry. What about you?"

"I could go for some food," Peter shrugged. They drove down to a diner together not too far from the edge of town and sat down. When it came time to order, however, Micky ordered his to go while telling Peter to stay.

"There's one more thing I want to do while I'm here," Micky said. "And I want to do it alone. Wait here and eat. I'll be back in a bit." Peter nodded and watched Micky leave when his food arrived, but his curiosity got the better of him. He grabbed his burger in one hand and a handful of fries in the other and made sure Micky left money on the table to cover their order and a tip before silently following Micky. He didn't like that Micky was hiding things from them and a part of him told him that following Micky was very, very wrong, but he pushed on. If they were ever going to help Mike and Micky with this problem, they'd need to know what was going on.

He followed Micky silently down a few blocks before realizing they were now in a very nice neighborhood. It was now getting to be early morning and the sun was rising. Children were leaving their houses and walking to school with their parents or other siblings. It was the typical picture of what you'd expect a loving family community to be. Which begged the question: what was Micky doing here? This was nothing like what he expected anyone in Micky's family to be like. Everyone was so happy and smiling.

His eyes followed Micky's and spied a house in the middle of the block. It was one of the few houses not completely buzzing with life. Just a woman, man and child. The woman was kissing the man as he got into their car and the man kneeled down to kiss the little girl on the forehead. She couldn't be much older than 5 and had beautiful brown eyes with long brown curly hair. She looked just like Micky and nothing like the people who appeared to be her parents. Both had blue eyes and blonde hair. The father gave the girl a hug after his kiss and wished her fun in her class that day. She smiled and waved at him as he pulled out of the lot. Her mother told her she could play out front for five minutes before they had to leave for school as long as she didn't leave the front yard.

"She's beautiful," Peter said standing next to Micky. He jumped a little and shot Peter a look.

"I told you to stay at the diner," Micky scolded.

"I got curious," Peter shrugged. "That's Hope, isn't it?"

"Yes," Micky answered.

"She looks happy," Peter said.

"She is," Micky smiled.

"There's always one day a year that you disappear and never tell us where you're going," Peter said. "Is this where you go?"

"On her birthday," Micky answered. "They have a party for her in the front yard every year. They never see me. It would be too confusing."

"How did you find her?"

"Wasn't that hard. When Mike and I first came out here, I wanted to know for sure she was ok, but couldn't really walk. Once I got to the point where I could, I came here. To where I dropped her off. I had every intention of asking Lisa Anne where she took Hope, but saw this instead. They couldn't have kids, Peter. She and her husband. A neighbor told me they'd been trying for years, but never had the family they always wanted. Then one day, she said the baby was given to them as a gift from God."

"You and Rose made their dreams come true."

"I never knew she wanted kids and couldn't have any. I never knew she was going to keep Hope herself. I was afraid at first that it would be too easy to make the connection since she was my teacher, so I came back a few times. Every time I did I saw this. She's happy and healthy. She's a beautiful girl who's as far away from the world she came from as you could get. They are wonderful parents and they give her everything she needs and wants. I couldn't have asked for a better home for her."

"They never see you watching?"

"No. That would bring up too many questions I don't want her to ask. I keep coming back now because…"

"Because you love that little girl. She may or may not be yours by blood, but she is by heart. You were there when she was born. You were there when Rose was pregnant. You bonded with her the first few weeks of her life, Micky. That makes her your daughter. And now she's theirs, too. There's nothing wrong with coming to see her, Micky. Just don't let it hurt you."

"I'm ok, Peter."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Micky smiled turning to him. "Let's get home."


	18. Talking it Out

Author's Note: For Midgie. :D

Chapter 15: Talking it Out

Mike had been sitting on a hill overlooking the psychiatric hospital they'd saved Sarah from, but he couldn't concentrate very well. Not that he really had to. He and Rose had been sitting here for several hours already and nothing had happened. No one had gone into the hospital and no one had left. He wasn't sure what he expected to see, but he thought maybe he'd at least see a groundskeeper or something. Clearly that stuff was done during the day and nothing happened at night.

"You know, you can always talk to me if you want," Rose said suddenly. It was nearly 2 am and Mike was fighting drowsiness so her sudden words startled him a little. They had talked a little when they first got here about what kinds of things they were going to be looking for and what they would do if they saw it, so he was a little confused by her statement.

"I know," Mike answered. "We talked when we first got here. I don't think we're going to see anything tonight."

"I'm not talking about casual conversations," Rose said. "I'm talking about what's going on. Why you're upset."

"Oh," Mike said softly. "Why?" Rose looked at him strangely. "Why would you want to hear what I have to say? You don't know who I am for one."

"And for two?" Rose asked when he didn't finish.

"You're supposed to be on his side, aren't you?" Mike asked looking away from her. He had thought about what had happened back at the house; the things he'd said and the things he'd done. He hated it all and wanted to be able to take it all back, but wasn't sure he could.

"I don't see how there are any sides in this whole ordeal, Mike," Rose said. "Micky's not mad at you; he understands that you aren't feeling well and isn't holding anything you did against you. Besides that, I think because I don't really know much of anything about you means that I am the best person to talk to. I won't judge you. I have no preconceived notions about you. I can just listen."

"You're biased towards him," Mike said.

"I don't have to be unbiased to listen," Rose said. "And I already told you: there are no sides. He's not mad at you."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I know him. If he were mad at you, he would have just attacked you back. He wouldn't have been able to carry on a conversation with you. He would have left."

"Yes, but you believe him. You believe that Heather drugged me."

"So do you." She looked deep into his eyes when she said this and he realized she was right. He did believe Micky was right from the moment Micky told him Heather had drugged him. And yet he had for some reason been so defensive of her. It really didn't make any sense to him. Half of him knew what she'd done to him while the other half was screaming there must be another explanation.

"How can you be so sure?" Mike asked.

"I wasn't," Rose answered with a beautiful smile. "Until just now. The look on your face confirmed it. You know what she did."

"Part of me does, I guess," Mike admitted. "I just don't understand. If she drugged me, why didn't the doctors find anything when they tested my blood?"

"Because we didn't want them to," Rose answered. "We knew what would happen if they found the drugs. Heather would be arrested and her name and crime would go on public record. Word would get back to your father and Micky's father…"

"And they'd come kick our asses," Mike sighed.

"Or worse."

"How did you stop them from testing my blood?"

"I didn't. I just switched the samples out."

"What?"

"I took Micky's blood and made my way to the lab. I had every intention of just flashing my badge and pestering the technician to go look for something, but lucky for me, he was on bathroom break. So i just took your vial, took the label off, put it on Micky's and put yours in my pocket. Walked out without anyone but the doorman seeing me, but it's not very unusual for cops to be at the lab, so nothing suspicious there."

"You could get in a lot of trouble for that. Not only could you lose your job, you could go to jail."

"Maybe. But I didn't get caught."

"Micky said you had the bottle he found in her hotel tested. He tried to tell me what was in it, but I wasn't ready to listen."

"Do you want me to tell you?"

"Yes."

"They didn't find anything definitive, to be honest, but what they did find was chemicals used in the same types of drugs Micky's father gave us. The chemicals could easily knock someone out or even kill them."

"So she nearly killed me. How did you get them to test it without arousing suspicion?"

"Easy. I just told them it was possible evidence for a case I'm working. It's not really a big deal."

"Why would you do something like that for me? Lying to people and risking your job?"

"I didn't do it just for you, Mike. I did it for Micky, too. His parents think he's dead. It needs to stay that way. Which means we have to deal with Heather without alerting them to any of this."

"You really care about him, don't you."

"I do. He's the only person that's been there for me in my entire life."

"You must hate me."

"Why would you say that? Because of what happened between you? Don't even worry about that. You weren't yourself."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I know Micky. He would never be friends with someone who acts like that. Between the drugs and the seizure, you can't be held responsible for your behavior."

"You really think that's why I did what I did?" Mike asked again looking at the ground. He hated himself for having lost control like that. He'd never done anything like that before.

"I know it," Rose answered. "I may not know you very well, but I know all I need to for me to know that you are not normally like that. It's what she did to you. It's messing with your head."

"Part of me knows that, too."

"Part of you?"

"It's starting to go away. The anger and everything. But there's still a part of me…"

"That still wants to believe her?"

"What's wrong with me?"

"What makes you think anything is wrong with you? You were drugged."

"This isn't the drugs anymore. This is something more. I...I still love her. I still want to believe that there is some sort of explanation for all this. I still want there to be a chance we could try again; that we could still be together. What is wrong with me? How can I still be in love with someone who did this to me?"

"Mike, one thing you have to understand is that there are different degrees of love; different types. There's the love you share with family members, and I don't just mean blood because you and Micky both prove that blood means nothing. Family is who you choose them to be. You, Micky, Davy and Peter are family. I see it in the way you interact with each other; how deeply you care for each other. A love like that is rare and special. It's something that can't be broken. Even if you had chosen to completely go against Micky and side with Heather, he still would have loved you. He wouldn't have been able to support you, but he still would have cared about you. Micky would die for you; he'd kill for you. All of them would. Even Peter. He'd hate himself for it, but if it came to choosing between letting you die and being forced to kill someone, we both know what he'd choose. And I have no doubt you'd do the same.

"There's carnal love. That messes with your head the most. You feel a pull to be with that person every time you're near them. You feel hot and your clothes are tight. Your stomach flips and your heart skips a few beats. You do really stupid things sometimes to be with that person and you hurt a lot of other people around you. You confuse it easily with real love. Real love is what Micky and Sarah have. It's the kind of thing where you'd be just as happy being in their arms as you would being in bed with them, sometimes happier. You think about each other when you're close as much as you do when you're miles apart. It's the kind of love where the very thought of that person is what keeps you going every day, no matter what life throws at you. It's the kind of love that never dies no matter what.

"What you have to do now, Mike, is ask yourself if you're truly in love with Heather, or if it's carnal. I can't answer that for you, but what I can tell you is that Heather doesn't love you the way Sarah loves Micky. If she did, she would never have lied to you. Once you know how you really feel, only then can you ask yourself what you're going to do about it. Only then can you see whether or not there's something wrong with you."

"You speak like you have been through this kind of thing before," Mike said after a few moments of silence; taking in everything she'd just said.

"Sort of," Rose answered. "I've been in love and I've been in lust."

"You got me to talk about my feelings, it's your turn," Mike pushed when she fell silent.

"I'm not really anguished about them," Rose laughed. Mike felt the familiar butterflies dance around his stomach that he had when he'd first seen Heather smile. "I lusted after my partner a few years ago, until I found out he was married."

"That's horrible. I'm sorry."

"I got over it."

"And the time you were in love? What happened there?"

"Micky and I used to be in love."

"What?" Mike asked stunned.

"Before Sarah was even brought to us," Rose answered. "I loved him with all my heart, but it just wasn't enough."

"Wow…" Mike said. "And you and Sarah and Micky are still friends? Impressive."

"It's not like that," Rose laughed a little again causing his stomach to flutter once more. Her laugh was beautiful. "It's not like she stole him from me. Micky and I tried, but we agreed it would never work given our situation. It wasn't really meant to be. But with Sarah, it was harder for him to walk away. They were meant to be together. We still love each other, but no where near the depth of love he has for Sarah. And he was truly happy with her. And that's all I could ever ask for. I just wish that someday I could find that, too."

"I'm sure you will," Mike said offering a smile.

"Maybe," Rose smiled back, "but so far the only guys I've ever gone out with have been scared off. I believe in telling the truth about my past to anyone I might get serious with. As soon as they hear I was kept prisoner and raped for years of my life by my foster father, they run. Usually screaming in terror."

"I won't," Mike said without thinking. Why the hell did you just say that!? Mike's mind screamed at him as Rose looked at him with a partially bemused and partially pleasant expression. Say something else! "I mean I wouldn't run away. If it were me."

"If it were you?" she asked.

"Yeah. I knew about Heather's past and didn't run away. I'm just saying...there's someone out there for you. There's someone for everyone. You'll find someone who can look past that and see how beautiful you are."

"Well, they usually go out with me in the first place because they think I'm beautiful."

"I didn't mean that. I mean, you'll find someone who can see more than how stunningly gorgeous you are." Mike yelled at himself again. Why did he keep saying things before he even thought about them? It was as if his filters had been shut off. Stop talking, Michael, before you talk too much! But he couldn't stop himself now. He just kept going. "I mean...uh...You are very beautiful. Would be considered beautiful to most people. But there's more to you than that. I don't know you very well, but going off of what I've learned from talking to you tonight you're also very smart and sweet and..."

"Keep going."

"You're loyal and caring. You didn't have to do anything you've done for me, including this whole talk. But you did because you care about Micky. Because you're a good person." Before Mike even really knew what was happening, Rose leaned over and kissed him. His first instinct was to kiss her back; to cup his hand tightly in her hair and pull her closer to him, but he couldn't. He wasn't sure why, but he pushed her away. His head screaming at him that he was being stupid; he liked her and he knew it.

"I'm sorry," Rose said softly. He could feel her breath on his face and it sent shivers down his spine.

"It's fine," Mike said. "It's not you, it's me. Don't get me wrong; I think you're beautiful and I feel something, but I just don't know if I'm ready for this."

"I understand. You have a lot to deal with and a lot to sift through right now. Just remember, your friends aren't going anywhere. They know you're dealing with a lot and they'll always be there for you." Mike nodded and lost himself in his thoughts again. Why had he spoken so freely with her? And why did he push her away when she kissed him? He wasn't going to deny that he was attracted to her. Intensely attracted. But it felt different than it had with Heather. Some things were the same, but he didn't have the same intensity that he had with Heather. What did that mean? Was he more attracted to Heather or was it a different kind of attraction? And did it even matter?

He couldn't fight it anymore; he knew Heather had drugged him. He knew she'd raped him and it ripped him apart inside. But a small part of him still desperately wanted there to be a reason for it. A small part of him still clung to the glimmer of hope that somehow when she was found and rescued, she'd give him a reasonable explanation for what happened. She had been kidnapped, after all. Yet, Micky was right about that, too; it didn't prove she didn't hurt him. Just that she may have made a lot of enemies. He'd just have to wait until she was found to get an explanation. But he doubted he would get a reasonable one. There was no reasonable explanation for raping anyone.


	19. More Bad News

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay...had a bad week. But hopefully I'm back now! Also, adding an addendum...already thanked a few people, but then got Seaecho and Smittygirl involved. Again, don't know if you're reading these stories, but thank you wonderful ladies! You are amazing! Dolenz, Cellomouse, Farfisa, Jedistarmonkee, BluCrayonsRTasty, JustPatches and now Seaecho and Smittygirl! The Monkeefandom has some of the best people in the world in it. Thank you all! And to Koopt...I know you're way behind on reading this, but you deserve a shout out, too for helping me plan! Luv you all!

Chapter 19: More Bad News

"Who wants eggs?" Davy asked almost 4 months later. Peter, Sarah and Micky were all sitting at the kitchen table in their pajamas. They had all just woken up, and for some reason, Davy was much more chipper than any of the rest of them.

"You made eggs?" Sarah asked smiling at him. She was now much more healthy looking and had completely healed. She was putting on more weight and all the color and spark had returned to her face.

"Yep," Davy answered spooning some onto her plate. "Peter? Micky?"

"Thanks," Peter answered as Micky nodded. After a minute, Mike and Rose walked in, both looking sullen and tired.

"What happened?" Micky asked pushing out a seat for Mike while Peter got up to let Rose sit down.

"We finally saw something," Rose said. For nearly the last 4 months, Mike and Rose had been going to the hospital at night to watch the place for any information they could use to get that search warrant, only to come up with nothing.

"What happened?" Sarah asked hopefully.

"We saw a couple go in empty handed," Rose answered.

"And come out with a baby," Mike finished.

"They adopted one of the patients baby's," Sarah said.

"That's so horrible," Peter said.

"That's what he does," Sarah said. "He makes a lot of money that way."

"You alright, Mike?" Micky asked noticing how upset his friend seemed.

"I just can't believe that he just took someone's kid away from them," Mike mumbled. "He stole someone's baby to sell it."

"The girls there are used to it," Sarah said trying unsuccessfully to make him feel better. "We knew from the beginning those kids were never ours. It's the only way we could cope. We were just incubators; not mothers."

"Rose didn't feel that way about Hope," Mike said.

"That was different," Rose answered. "These girls know their babies are going to be taken away from them the second they give birth. These pregnancies are planned. They're experimented on. I wasn't. And there's always been the chance that my baby didn't come from evil." Micky glanced at the ground, not wanting to think about Hope too much.

"That doesn't make it any better," Mike mumbled.

"No, it doesn't," Micky said. "But there's nothing more we can do about it. Not until we can get more dirt on that place. I don't think what you guys saw would be enough for that search warrant."

"No," Rose answered. "Peter, Davy, tell me you two found something else we can use."

"Actually, we did," Peter said grabbing a few pieces of paper off the counter and bringing them to the table. "After months of digging, we finally found them. They were buried because they were only little paragraphs, but we finally found some good stories. The first one is a news article about this family who sent their daughter to the hospital for treatment, but after a few months, they weren't allowed to visit her anymore. Doctor Eichmann said that any visitors would be detrimental to her healing process, so he barred anyone from seeing her. Of course her parents threw a fit over that and attempted to sue the hospital. The lawyers dug around and looked into it and were ready to bring a case against the hospital and doctor Eichmann, but the girl died suddenly. Doctor Eichmann ruled it a heart attack, but her parents said she'd never suffered a heart condition a day in her life. Tried to urge the police to dig into it, but they wouldn't. They sided with the doctor and left the case alone. The family went to the newspaper to try and drum up hype, but it didn't work apparently."

"Does it give a name or anything?" Rose asked. "I can pull the death certificate and check it out."

"No," Peter answered. "The family wanted the victims name to stay anonymous to protect her privacy."

"What about the other article?" Micky asked.

"Similar story," Davy answered. "Family sends their daughter to the hospital and never sees her again. They are sent a letter stating that their daughter was going to be transferred to another facility that could better serve her, but when the parents check with that place, they've never heard of her. It takes 3 months to sort out the paperwork with lawyers and the police before Dr. Eichmann said there had been a "very grave mistake" made. The girl killed herself and the letter that was sent to the family was supposed to be informing them of that and asking what they wanted done with the body. Since they never responded, Dr. Eichmann just sent her to the morgue and had her buried."

"Heart attack and suicide," Micky said. "Nothing you wouldn't expect to find at a hospital. Nothing suspicious."

"No, but maybe I can convince these families to push for a renewed investigation," Rose said. "That should get us a warrant to look at their files. We should be able to get some dirt on that. It's at least a start."

"I'm going to bed," Mike said getting up from the table.

"Don't you want breakfast?" Davy asked. "I made eggs."

"Not really hungry after all that," Mike answered and walked up the stairs silently.

"Can't say I really blame him," Peter admitted poking at his own eggs with his fork. "This is all really depressing."

"Don't worry about it so much, Peter," Micky said full of guilt. "You'll just give yourself nightmares." The rest of the day, they left Mike alone to sleep. Rose went off to work to see what she could dig up on the cases and talk to her boss. Peter and Davy went back to the library to do more research. Micky had given up trying to prove to Mike anything about Heather, and the two hadn't even spoken much about it over the last four months.

After dinner, Mike came down to eat a little and take a shower; he was going to go back out with Rose and watch the hospital again. Micky decided to go back up to the room and get ready for bed himself. They had all moved their beds into the room on the second floor so Sarah could have the bottom room to herself. They'd even managed to buy a cheap 5th bed. Micky had only been in the room long enough to take off his shirt before he heard Sarah knock on the door behind him.

"Can I talk to you?" Sarah asked.

"Of course," Micky smiled.

"Sorry, I didn't realize you were changing; I can come back," Sarah said staring at him. Normally Micky would feel embarrassed, but instead he just smiled.

"It's fine," Micky laughed. "Nothing you haven't seen before, right?"

"I guess not," Sarah smiled.

"What is it?" Micky asked sitting on the end of his bed.

"You and your friends have all be so nice to me," Sarah said. "Letting me stay here until I healed. Even moving into this tiny room together."

"We've lived in this room before," Micky smiled. "Mr. Babbit had to fix something downstairs and we all moved up here. It's really no big deal."

"You know what I mean," Sarah said. "You didn't have to do any of this for me. And it was so I could heal. And now I'm better...I can go and live on my own."

"Are you saying you want to leave?" Micky asked suddenly feeling hurt. Neither of them had really had the conversation about what would happen once she had gotten better, but he just kind of assumed she'd stay with him.

"I don't know, Micky," she said. "We haven't talked about us."

"Us?" Micky asked.

"Where we stand," Sarah answered. "We haven't seen or heard from each other in 5 years. We aren't really seeing each other anymore. You moved on with your life. I can't just suddenly come back in…"

"What makes you think you can't?" Micky asked. "What makes you think I really moved on from you?"

"You can't tell me you haven't had any relationships in the last 5 years," Sarah said. "I haven't, but that's because I've been held prisoner."

"I have," Micky answered reaching out and pulling her closer to him. "But they haven't ever meant anything. I've never been able to feel anything close to what I felt with you. The few women I've gone home with, I've always pictured you. I've never been able to get you out of my mind. I've never been able to get over you. I wanted to find you like I found Rose and Hope. I wanted to make sure you were ok. I should have. But I didn't. I told you to move on without me. And I was scared if I jumped back into your life, it would complicate things. And I didn't want that. I wanted you to be happy. If I had…" Sarah leaned down and swallowed his words with a kiss. The first kiss he'd gotten from her like this in 5 years. It sent emotions flooding through his whole body and he suddenly couldn't bring himself to let her go. If he did, he might lose her again forever.

"Don't you dare blame yourself, Micky," Sarah said softly against his lips. "There's no way you could have known anything was wrong with me. And there's not really much you could have done anyway. You did more for me than you know. The thought of you is what kept me alive. So many times I wanted to die; I thought about the number of ways I could have killed myself, but somehow I knew...I knew you'd find me. I knew I'd see you again. And the thought of being with you again kept me going through all of it. I had to survive so I could be with you again."

"Don't ever leave me again," Micky whispered. Sarah smiled and they kissed again as he pulled her tighter to him.

"I'll stay as long as you'll have me," Sarah answered. Micky smiled into another kiss and slipped his hand up the back of her shirt before rolling around to lie her gently on his bed. She moaned into him as one hand moved down to cradle her hip and the other wrapped in her hair ensuring she stayed close to him. In the back of Micky's mind, he told himself he should stop; that this might have been too soon for her and she wasn't ready. He pulled away slightly and looked down at her. She looked happy. "Why did you stop?"

"I can't do this," Micky answered. "I can't hurt you."

"Why would you think you were hurting me?" she asked softly.

"Its too soon," Micky answered trying to push himself off only to have her wrap her arms around him and pull him back down.

"No, Micky," Sarah said. "You could never hurt me. Its not too soon. I'm fine." Micky started to argue, but felt her hand slide down his pants as the other unbuttoned and unzipped him. He lost all thoughts of protest when her hand wrapped around him.

"Oh God," Micky moaned as he succumbed to her touch and kissed her again. She pulled him out of his pants and underwear in order to reach him easier. His hands fumbled over the buttons on her shirt as she played with him and when he finally got her shirt open, he craned his head to kiss her gently everywhere he could. She groaned beneath him and arched her back and hips while still stroking him gently. Micky pulled her bra down and pulled her taut nipple into his mouth before he moved his own hand down her pants. Slipping his finger inside her gently made her nearly cry out and Micky moved to kiss her to keep her from getting too loud in case Mike was still within earshot.

He worked quickly, despite the fact he wanted to make things last; he hadn't felt like this in years and pretty quickly she was quivering beneath him. She lost her grip on him as she gripped the sheets tightly in her hands, but he didn't care so much. He was enjoying feeling her ecstasy beneath him. He whispered in her ear to be quiet before moving back to pull her soft breast between his lips. When she moaned again, she bit her lip trying to keep from crying out. She was close and Micky started working faster, urging her over the edge. When she finally did, her whole body shook and curled beneath him. He smiled and moved to kiss her again, desperately wanting to disrobe them both. As he started pulling her shirt off all the way, he heard the bedroom door fly open. They both jumped and Sarah grabbed the blanket on Micky's bed to quickly cover herself as Micky pulled his pants back up and turned toward whoever had walked in without knocking.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Peter exclaimed turning a bright shade of red. "I didn't know you were both in here! I thought Sarah was downstairs and I was looking for you and thought you'd be up here!"

"Peter, what do you want?" Micky asked irritably.

"I swear, I didn't see anything!" Peter continued covering his eyes, but not having the sense to leave or answer Micky's question. "I should have knocked. I'm really sorry."

"Peter!" Micky yelled. "What is it!?"

"Umm...Rose...she's downstairs," Peter answered. "She says she wants to talk to you."

"I'll be down in a few minutes," Micky sighed.

"She says its really important," Peter said still covering his eyes.

"Ok, then I'll be down in a second," Micky said. "Let me just get my clothes back on."

"Right," Peter nodded and turned to leave. He was still covering his eyes so he walked right into the door frame.

"Peter, there's nothing to see anymore," Micky sighed, "we're both covered. You can move your hand now."

"Right," Peter nodded, but only slowly lowered his hand and darted out of the room closing the door behind him.

"Roommates," Sarah laughed sitting up again.

"You think that's funny?" Micky asked, though he had to admit he did find it all a little funny.

"A little," she said. "He's never walked in on you?"

"I've never brought a girl home," Micky admitted looking for his shirt. "None of us have. We always go to them."

"You don't want to finish?" Sarah asked glancing at his crotch.

"I'll be fine," Micky answered buttoning his shirt. "Mood's kinda ruined anyway. Besides, Rose doesn't say something's important unless it is. We can finish tonight."

"I kinda wanted to finish now," Sarah smiled walking towards him. He almost caved when she kissed him deeply, but he pushed her away and smiled.

"Later, I promise," Micky said before turning to walk downstairs. Sarah followed him after quickly buttoning up her shirt again and when they got downstairs Peter and Davy were sitting nervously at the kitchen table and Rose stood against the front door as though she didn't really want to come all the way in. Mike was just coming out of the bathroom, fully dressed and ready to go.

"I'm ready," Mike said not noticing the tension in the room at first. "What happened?"

"We found Heather," Rose answered. The room fell completely silent for a few moments before Rose finished. "There was a tip called in that there was a woman being held prisoner at a house near the hotel. When the cops went in, they found 4 men high on heroin and PCP. One was even taken to the hospital. But when they went in the basement, they found a girl tied up on a dirty old mattress on the floor. Severely beaten...and raped."

"Oh God," Mike muttered. Despite his feelings for her, Micky still didn't think she deserved that.

"They identified her not long after taking her to the hospital, but she was completely out of it," Rose continued. "She hasn't said anything yet."

"Is she gonna be ok?" Peter asked. Micky saw Davy start to say something to Peter, but Micky shot him a look telling him to be quiet. He knew Davy hated Heather and was more than likely going to say something along the lines of "who cares", but that wasn't really what Mike needed to hear.

"She's going to be fine," Rose answered. "The doctors said she's probably been there about four months. Since she was seen being taken from the hotel. Amidst all her injuries, she's got a fractured finger that's about 4 months old. It's healing well, though, and shouldn't cause any major lasting damage. Neither should the rest of her injuries. And…"

"And what?" Micky asked when she trailed off.

"They also said she's about 4 months pregnant," Rose said.


	20. An Explanation

Author's Note: I know it's been a while, but I recently lost all passion for anything. Only just now getting it back. Slowly.

This story is being rededicated to two phenomenal woman: Farfisa and Jedistarmonkee. You both have been amazing and words just cannot explain how thankful I am for all the help you have and continue to give me through this hard time in my life. You were there for me after I got out of the hospital and while you may not physically be able to do anything, just knowing you support me despite what others (including myself) have said and done to try and hurt me means everything to me. Thank you both.

Chapter 20: An Explanation

"Mike?" Micky asked cautiously as they all watched all the color drain from Mike's face.

"What do you mean she's pregnant?" Peter asked. "Those men who took her...they...they got her pregnant?"

"Not necessarily, Peter," Davy muttered. Peter wasn't sure what Davy was talking about for a second. How else did someone get pregnant? But then he realized that Rose had said she was 4 months pregnant and 4 months ago, Heather and Mike had slept together, too.

"Oh," Peter said looking worriedly at Mike who now looked weak in the knees and as though he were going to throw up.

"Mike, just sit down," Micky said helping Mike into a nearby chair.

"Is...is there any way to know if..." Mike trailed off.

"Not right now," Rose answered.

"But it could be...four months…" Mike said slowly.

"Mike, just breathe, ok?" Micky said trying his best to keep Mike calm. Peter really had no idea what to say and felt incredibly helpless. What did any of this mean for them? If Heather was pregnant with Mike's child, what would happen? Would the baby come live with them? Would Mike give it up?

"How am I supposed to breathe, Micky?" Mike asked. "I...I…"

"Mike, it's gonna be ok," Davy tried.

"It's not gonna be ok, Davy!" Mike snapped then paused a moment. "I...I need to see her."

"Mike, I really don't think that's such a good idea," Micky said.

"I don't care what you think, Micky," Mike snapped again. "I need to see her."

"You can't," Rose said. "They had to sedate her."

"I thought you said she was fine?" Mike asked.

"She is," Rose answered, "but it's my understanding she was a little hysterical. They had to sedate her just to get the medications in her. She's out cold. And visiting hours are over anyway."

"You're a cop," Mike said firmly. "You can get me in."

"I'm not going to do that, Mike," Rose said. "She needs to rest. For her sake and the baby. They've been through a lot. And you need to just stay here with your friends. Decide what you want to do."

"What do you mean "decide"?" Mike asked. "There's nothing to decide."

"You don't know this baby is yours," Micky reminded him.

"And you don't know its not," Mike snapped.

"I didn't say that," Micky said. "But you have to think about that before you decide what you're going to do."

"I really don't care who the father is," Mike mumbled burying his face in his hands. "She doesn't deserve it. She can't raise a baby. Not after what she's done."

"Mike, I don't know that you have much of a say there," Rose said. "You can't just take her child and give it away without her consent."

"Who said anything about giving it away?" Mike asked.

"You really want to raise this baby?" Micky asked.

"Why not?" Mike asked looking at Micky. "If it's mine…"

"Yeah, if, Mike, if," Micky reminded him. "You don't know if it's yours. And are you really ready for a baby?"

"I've seen what happens to kids in foster care," Mike said. "As Rose what happens to parent-less children."

"That's not fair, Mike," Rose said. "Not all situations are like that. Hope made it to a good home."

"That's because you and Micky got lucky and trusted someone," Mike said. "The only people in the world I trust are in this room."

"Are you really prepared to raise someone else's baby?" Micky asked.

"Why are you so bent on having this be someone else's baby?" Mike asked. "Do you seriously want it to be one of theirs?"

"I didn't say that, Mike," Micky said. "But I don't want it to be yours either. I don't want any of this."

"She's been pregnant before, Mike," Sarah said. "Not by choice."

"So what, this is nothing new to her?" Mike asked. "Is that what you're saying?"

"No," Micky said firmly. "No one is saying anything like that, Mike. Can you stop snapping at us? I know you're upset and I know you're scared. Trust me, I do. If anyone knows what you're going through, I do. We're trying to help. You can't make any decisions in this state of mind. You're angry and you're scared. No one wants the people who took her to be the father and no one wants you to be either. No one wants any of this. I know why you want to see her; you're hoping this is some sick joke. That someone made a mistake. But the sooner you accept it, the sooner you can start to figure this out."

"You're right," Mike sighed after a moment. "I'm sorry, guys. I really didn't mean to snap."

"We know," Davy said. "Don't even worry about apologizing. We just want to help."

"Whatever decision you make, we'll support, Mike," Peter said.

"Rose, you said there's not a way to find out right now who the father is…" Mike started.

"There are paternity tests that can be done, but not until after the baby is born," Rose answered.

"When can I see her?" Mike asked.

"Mike…" Micky said cautiously.

"I need to see her, Micky," Mike said. "I need to talk to her. I know it doesn't make sense to you, but I have to talk to her."

"It does make sense to me, Mike," Micky said. "But I don't know if it's the best thing for you right now. Confronting her may actually make things worse."

"I'll be fine, Micky," Mike said. "You can even go with me if you want. As long as you promise to hang back and don't hurt her. But I have to talk to her. I need to know why." Micky sighed heavily and scratched his head.

"Deal," Micky said after a moment.

"I can take you first thing in the morning," Rose said.

* * *

That night Micky had opted to sleep in the downstairs room with Sarah. Not that he really had done much sleeping. When the sun started to peek through the window, he pushed himself up and out of bed. Sarah groaned tiredly next to him as he slipped on one of his t shirts. He leaned over and kissed her softly on the forehead before smiling down at her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," he said.

"I would have to have been asleep for you to wake me," she answered.

"You didn't sleep either then?" Micky asked. She shook her head a little and started getting out of bed herself. Neither had really spoken much after Rose dropped the bombshell that night; but Micky felt a small comfort being able to hold Sarah safely in his arms. No matter what happened, he knew she'd at least be safe with him. Now he had to just worry about Mike.

It had always been Mike's habit to rise early and since he'd slept all day yesterday, it was no surprise to see Mike awake in the living room pacing, still wearing the clothes he'd been in the night before. He was a little surprised to find Peter and Davy walking down the stairs shortly after; they usually slept a little later. They made their way carefully down the stairs in silence and sat at the table. Rose had slept in the living room on the couch and was also stirring as the sun hit her face. After a few minutes, Rose finally spoke up.

"Are you still up for this, Mike?" she asked.

"No," Mike answered. "But it's something I have to do whether I want it or not."

"Alright," Rose said. "Then lets get ready. They'll let you see her in a while."

"I'm ready," Mike said. "I've been ready for a few hours."

"I'll get dressed," Micky said getting up quickly. He took the stairs two at a time and quickly grabbed his clothes out of the drawers. When he turned he saw Sarah standing in the doorway.

"You gonna be ok?" Sarah asked.

"I don't know," Micky answered honestly pulling his pants on.

"You want me to go with you?" she asked.

"No," Micky answered walking over to her and pulling his shirt on. "That's ok. You stay here and watch over Davy and Peter. I can't imagine how they're dealing with this."

"Are you sure?" Sarah asked.

"Yes," Micky said before kissing her softly. "Don't worry about me. Just stay here. Out of harms way. Out of detection."

"Ok," Sarah said. "Just be nice." Micky nodded and left. The entire ride over to the hospital was spent in silence and when they arrived, Rose told them to wait in the lobby while she spoke to the nurse. They waited for only a few moments before the nurse walked them back to a room near the back of the hospital. As they approached, a few men walked out and nodded to Rose before walked out the way Mike and Micky walked in.

"Who were they?" Mike asked.

"Detectives," Rose answered. "Probably just here to get her statement."

"You can see her for only a few minutes," the nurse said opening the door for them. Micky let Mike walk in first and stood by the door with Rose. They were only there to back up Mike; this was his confrontation.

"Mike?" Heather asked in surprise. "Mike? What are you doing here?"

"Rose told me what happened," Mike said softly. "I honestly don't know why I'm here after what you did to me, but I just feel like I have to be. And Micky's here to support me."

"Mike, I'm so sorry," Heather said softly. She plastered a look of shame on her face, but Micky saw right through it; he knew by now when she was putting on a face to gain sympathy.

"I don't want to hear it," Mike said. "The only thing I want to hear right now is why. Micky found the bottle in your room. Micky told me what you did to me. I feel bad for what happened to you, but I need to know why you did what you did."

"I didn't want to do it," Heather said feigning guilt.

"Bullshit," Micky spat.

"Micky, hush," Rose said. "Let her talk. We're here for him."

"I swear I didn't want to hurt you," Heather said tearing up with dry tears. "I didn't want to hurt any of you. I'm so sorry. He made me."

"Who made you?" Mike asked.

"Your father," Heather answered. "He wanted to hurt you. Something happened, I don't know what, but he wanted to test you. So he threatened me. He told me I had to drug you and then call him to come get you. I was too scared not to. He said he'd make me pay if I disobeyed him. I didn't know what the drug was going to do, I swear. He just said that it would make you pass out so he could take you without you fighting him. But when you kissed me...I really thought for a minute that you wanted to kiss me. It wasn't until after that I realized what had happened and I couldn't do that to you. I realized I still loved you and I'd taken advantage of you and I couldn't hurt you any more than I already had. So I didn't call him. When you woke up, I just wanted you to go home where you'd be safe."

"You really expect me to believe any of that?" Mike asked after a moment. Micky felt relief wash through him; he wasn't sure if Mike was gonna buy that story or not.

"I know it's crazy, but everything about everything we've been through is crazy," Heather said. "He found out I let you go and he sent those men to kidnap me. He wanted them to make me tell them where you were, but I refused. So they just kept torturing me."

"You found me," Mike said. "I'm sure he'd be able to find me, too."

"I found you after looking for a year," Heather said. "He told me to do it as soon as I got out of jail. And I knew what kinds of areas to look for you; what circles you ran in."

"This is a bunch of crap," Mike said.

"I know it sounds crazy," Heather said. "But it's the truth, Mike. I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

"Yeah, right," Mike said turning to walk away.

"Mike, wait," Heather said. "We have to talk about this."

"We've talked," Mike said. "I don't believe you. There's nothing else to talk about."

"The baby," Heather said.

"We'll deal with that when the baby's born," Mike said. "Rose said we can't test the paternity until then. But I'll tell you, if it's mine…"

"It is yours," Heather interrupted.

"How do you know that?" Mike asked freezing in his tracks. Micky perked up himself, too. "Rose said those men who kidnapped you raped you."

"Not until later," Heather answered. "They just started out hitting me. They didn't rape me until a few months later."

"Doesn't mean you know Mike's the father," Micky said. "How do we know you weren't sleeping around before all this."

"I wasn't," Heather answered. "I swear. This is Mike's baby."

"If you're lying about this to play some sort of game," Micky started.

"Micky, just stop for a second," Mike said turning on him. Mike wasn't angry; Micky couldn't read what was going through Mike's head. "Can I talk to you both outside for a second?"

"Sure," Micky said shooting a hard look at Heather.

"Are you ok, Mike?" Rose asked when they got out to the hallway.

"I think so," Mike said. "I mean a part of me knew this was probably my baby, but I didn't want to think about what I was going to do until I knew for sure."

"You still don't know for sure," Micky said.

"For what it's worth, I believe her on that front," Mike said. "I don't believe her story about what she did to me, though."

"Neither do I," Rose said.

"But there is a chance she's telling at least a partial truth," Mike said refusing to look at either of them. "There's a chance that these people could still come after her. I don't believe that a bunch of drug addicts kidnapped her and tortured her for months for no reason."

"It happens, Mike," Rose said. "I see it all the time."

"How often do people that stoned keep someone alive that long?" Mike asked.

"Never," Rose admitted. "They normally lose control and kill their victim after even a few days. Weeks even. But I admit, I've never seen people that high keep someone alive that long. The only time I've seen a victim stay alive that long is with captors who are sober and clean."

"What are you saying, Mike?" Micky asked.

"I'm saying she may still be in danger," Mike admitted. "I'm saying my baby may be in danger. I think someone else pulled the strings on this kidnap and they may come after her again."

"The police can put her in protective custody," Micky said. "She'll be safe there."

"Will she?" Mike asked. "You're dad's a cop. My dad's a lawyer."

"My dad's FBI," Micky corrected.

"Even worse," Mike said.

"We can't do it anyway," Rose said. "I doubt she told the detectives the whole story she told us. So as far as they're concerned, the men who assaulted her are in custody. Case closed."

"So we have to do it," Mike said.

"What are you getting at?" Micky asked afraid of where this was going.

"We have to let her stay with us," Mike said. "Keep an eye on her."

"Mike, are you insane?" Micky asked. "She admitted she drugged you and you want to let her stay under our roof?!"

"Micky, what choice do we have?" Mike asked. "That's my child. I have to think about my child. I have to do what's right by it. And besides, isn't it better to keep her closer to us so we can keep an eye on her in case she does something else? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?"

"I don't know about this, Mike," Micky said uneasily. He wasn't sure bringing the enemy into their own house was such a great idea, but he also knew Mike was concerned about his child.

"Micky, I want to do this," Mike said. "I have to look out for my baby."

"I know," Micky said in resignation. He still felt very uneasy about it, but he had to admit he'd rather be able to keep an eye on Heather in case she did something to hurt Mike again. And on the off chance someone was still going to try and hurt Heather, they could keep the baby safe. Mike's baby.


	21. Insane

Author's Note: Kinda short, but hope that's ok. Hope you all like! Thanks to Blucrayons for the help!

Chapter 21: Insane

"You're going to let her move in here!?" Davy exclaimed jumping up from the kitchen table angrily a few hours later when Mike and Micky had returned home with Rose. They had sat and told Peter, Sarah and Davy the entire story that Heather had told them as to why she had poisoned Mike and how she knew Mike was the baby's father. "Have you completely lost your mind!?"

"Davy, please calm down," Peter tried hating the tension he felt in the air between everyone and wanting it to just end. "Let's just hear him out."

"She tried to kill you, Mike!" Davy yelled ignoring Peter.

"She didn't try to kill me, Davy," Mike said.

"You really believe her story?" Davy asked.

"Parts of it," Mike admitted sighing heavily and collapsing into a chair.

"Parts of it?" Davy echoed.

"I believe she didn't know the drug she gave me was going to nearly kill me," Mike answered. "But I don't believe she never meant to hurt me. There's something…nevermind."

"So you know she tried to hurt you and you're going to let her live here with us!?" Davy exclaimed, still extremely angry.

"Davy, there's more to this than you're seeing," Mike tried again.

"You can't tell me you're ok with this?" Davy demanded now rounding on Micky who was sitting on the sofa next to Sarah.

"No, I'm not," Micky answered.

"You guys aren't really seeing the bigger picture here," Rose interceded.

"What bigger picture?!" Davy exclaimed. "She nearly killed Mike and we're just gonna let her move right on in here so she can be under the same roof and try again!"

"No one is saying she didn't," Rose said. "But that's kind of the point. It's better to keep her close and keep an eye on her until we can figure out what she's up to than to let her run off with Mike's baby and do whatever she wants. Look, I know Heather. I grew up with her. I trust part of her story and I know Micky does, too." She paused long enough to glance at Micky who nodded reluctantly before continuing. "She's not smart enough to think of a plan like that on her own. She's not smart enough to come up with that drug on her own. I do believe she's getting help from someone. Whether or not that's Mike's dad, I have no idea. Whether or not she's in danger, I have no idea, but there is the risk she could run with the baby and there is the risk that whoever she's working with could hurt his baby. It's better to keep an eye on her here where we can make sure the baby stays safe."

"But if she was working with someone to kidnap Mike, why is he still here?" Peter said. "I mean, that must mean she regrets what she did, right?"

"She may have had a different plan, Peter," Rose said.

"Like what?" Davy asked.

"I don't know," Rose said. "But the closer she is to us, the higher our chances of figuring that out."

"There's more to this than that," Sarah said not looking anyone in the eye. "I mean, the medical evidence says she was at least tortured and raped."

"Well, it says she was beaten and had sex," Rose admitted. "So I guess."

"What happens to people after something like that?" Sarah asked still looking at the ground. "What do most people do? They self-medicate to make the pain go away. Micky drank. I...I turned to drugs for a while before my parents locked me away."

"You did drugs?" Micky asked still holding her close. His tone wasn't accusatory; rather surprised.

"I never said I was proud of what I did," Sarah said. "I was alone. I did whatever I could get my hands on to numb the pain; to make the nightmares go away. But that's not the point. The point is we don't know what Heather's going to do. She's pregnant. If she self medicates, she won't only be hurting herself...she'll be hurting the baby. Mike's baby. So it's more than just making sure she doesn't skip town with his baby."

"I didn't even think of that," Mike sighed. "No way I'm letting her do anything like that to my child."

"Ok," Davy sighed finally giving in and sitting back down. "You bring up some pretty valid points. But I still don't like it."

"I'll stay here, too," Rose said. "If it makes you feel any better about it."

"I don't think anything will make me feel any better about it," Davy admitted.

"Do we even have enough room?" Peter asked. "We got lucky with that other bed…"

"I have a spare bed," Rose said.

"You'll be here for the next 5 months," Micky said. "So you might as well just bring all your stuff, too. Can you move out of your apartment?"

"Yeah," Rose answered heavily. "It's a month to month lease. You guys are ok with that?"

"I am," Mike said. "The more people watching her, the better. The three of you can stay in the downstairs room and we'll stay upstairs. If that's alright with you, Sarah."

"I don't trust her any more than the rest of you," Sarah said. "I'd rather keep an eye on her, too."

"When does she get out of the hospital?" Davy asked.

"Tomorrow morning," Mike answered. "They're going to keep her tonight for observation."

"Well, then lets get Rose moved in tonight," Davy said with a heavy sigh. Peter and Mike nodded and moved toward the door, but Micky hung behind for a second.

"You never told me about doing drugs," Peter heard Micky whisper to Sarah; again, it was more of a concerned tone than an angry one.

"I wasn't proud of it," Sarah whispered back. "But I have you now. I'm ok. I promise."

"I'm always here for you," Micky said softly kissing her shoulder.

"I know," Sarah answered. "I'm ok. Go help them. I'll get everything ready."

"We can ask Larry to borrow his truck," Davy said oblivious to the conversation between Micky and Sarah. "Let's hope he's not busy. It'll make it easier."

"Sure," Micky said walking toward the door. "I'll go talk to him and meet you at Rose's apartment."

* * *

Mike couldn't sleep that night. It wasn't all the heavy lifting they'd done of moving Rose in and getting things ready for Heather; it was the thought of Heather staying with them and the thought that he was going to be a father. But there was something else at the back of his mind, too. Something that he kept trying to pin down, but couldn't quite see it through the fog. He had tried to close his eyes once, but couldn't see anything other than the fog he'd been seeing for months.

Sighing, he sat up and looked around. It was almost morning and Peter and Davy were asleep in their beds. Micky's bed was empty, but he assumed Micky was downstairs in bed with Sarah. He climbed down the stairs and started a pot of coffee knowing he'd need something to keep him awake. Just to make sure, he peered into the downstairs bedroom and saw Micky and Sarah curled comfortingly under the sheets in her bed and Rose in the bed she brought from home. He glanced at the empty bed they'd made for Heather and felt a sick feeling in the back of his throat again.

Trying to push the thoughts out of his head, he closed the door behind him and walked back out into the kitchen. He waited for the coffee to brew and leaned over the sink feeling sick to his stomach. He wasn't sure what he was doing; how could he be a father right now? All he knew for sure was he couldn't let Heather raise his child. He didn't know exactly what she'd done to him, but knew she'd drugged him and took away his ability to choose whether he wanted to sleep with her or not. Somehow, though, that didn't seem like the worst of it. It felt like something else had happened during the drug-induced haze, but couldn't fight through it enough to know for sure.

"You ok, Mike?" Rose asked coming out of the room quietly.

"Yeah," Mike lied.

"You can't really lie to a cop," Rose said. "Besides that. I know what you're going through. Remember?"

"Yeah," Mike admitted. He wasn't really sure he wanted to talk to anyone, but she had a point about knowing how he felt. And maybe she could help him push past the fog. "This stays between us?"

"If that's what you want," Rose smiled and pulled out a chair for him to sit at the table before sitting down herself. "If you're worried about how to raise the child, there are some safe foster homes out there. They aren't all bad."

"I know that," Mike answered. "And it's not really about that so much. I can't help but feel like something's missing."

"Missing?" Rose asked.

"When they drugged you and made you...do those things…" Mike started looking away from her. "Did you remember what happened?"

"Sometimes," Rose answered. "But sometimes it's just a fog."

"Yeah," Mike answered unable to hold back a smile at the word. She was so much like him; even using the same words and phrases as him.

"Is that why you think something's missing?" she asked softly.

"I remember a lot about that night very clearly," Mike said. "I remember kissing her and wanting desperately to be with her. I remember taking our clothes off and how good it felt…"

"That was the drugs, Mike," Rose assured him when he trailed off.

"I know," Mike sighed. "I remember being with her...and then...I remember passing out."

"Ok, so what's missing?" Rose asked.

"I don't know," Mike answered. "I'm not really sure if I really even passed out. I think I just...stopped remembering. Stopped being aware of what was happening; what I was doing to her; what she was doing to me. It's hard to explain."

"No, I get it," Rose said. "I've been there. I know what it's like...to not trust your own memories. Do you think something else happened?"

"I feel like it did," Mike admitted after a moment. "But I don't know what. I keep trying to remember. I keep trying to replay that day in my head hoping for something new...but nothing ever comes to me. Just this feeling of something missing."

"That's the drugs, Mike," Rose repeated placing a hand softly on his arm. Her touch somehow felt soothing to him. As if somehow her touching him was taking some of his pain away. "They mess with the way your mind works. You lose control of yourself and sometimes you lose the ability to even form memories. There's nothing for you to recall. Honestly, trying is just going to make it worse. You'll keep replaying what happened hoping to remember something that isn't there and you'll never be able to move on from it."

"I just can't help but think that something else happened," Mike insisted. "And I need to know what."

"I understand that, Mike," Rose said. "Really, I do, but you may have to accept you'll never know. Not unless she volunteers the information, and I really doubt she will. Not freely."

"What does that mean?" Mike asked finally looking at her.

"That means that we don't tell Micky a damn thing about this," Rose answered. "Unless you're willing to get your answer by any means necessary."

"I don't really think Micky would do anything like that," Mike said though something told him he was wrong.

"You don't know Micky as well as I do," Rose answered sounding almost sad. "He's a beautiful person with a heart of solid gold, but…"

"But what?" Mike asked.

"Hurt someone he cares about and he can be very much like his father," Rose finished.

"I don't believe that," Mike argued.

"Didn't you tell me when you found him with Heather in her hotel he was holding a baseball bat to her throat?" Rose pointed out. "The only reason he hasn't done anything to her since that night is because he couldn't find her."

"Is being under the same roof as her a good idea then?" Mike asked.

"He won't hurt her now," Rose said. "Not while she's carrying your child. He wouldn't do that to you. It'll take everything out of him, but he won't do anything to hurt that baby."


	22. Moving In

Author's Note: Please review. It boosts my ego! lol.

Warning: Chapter may be disturbing contains violent/explicit content

Chapter 22: Moving In

"You want me to live with you?" Heather asked in disbelief in her hospital bed. "I thought after yesterday you didn't want anything to do with me. I didn't think you trusted me."

"I didn't say move in," Mike answered. "Just stay with us until the baby's born. I don't trust you. That's why I want to keep an eye on you. And my baby."

"You think I'm gonna take off and leave?" Heather asked.

"Maybe," Mike answered.

"And Micky's gonna be there, too?" Heather asked glancing at Micky standing in the corner with his arms crossed. Mike knew that was his way of not lashing out at Heather; keeping himself in control.

"Yes, but he's not going to hurt you if that's what you're worried about," Mike said.

"How do you know that?" Heather asked glancing again at Micky.

"Because he promised me," Mike said. "And he knows you're carrying my baby and he wouldn't dare hurt my baby."

"He held a baseball bat to my throat," Heather said.

"Can you blame him?" Mike asked. "I think he's showed considerable restraint since then given what you did to me after that."

"I never meant to hurt you," Heather said.

"Bullshit," Micky said. "None of us really believe that."

"Micky," Mike warned. He'd agreed to let Micky come only if he kept quiet. "You should be wanting this if you were telling the truth. If someone's really after you, staying with us will keep you safe."

"Or it would be leading them straight to you," Heather argued.

"You think that after everything we've been through we can't protect ourselves?" Mike asked starting to get angry. "Look, it doesn't matter, because it's already a done deal. Rose talked to your parole officer. He agreed that given your condition and attack staying with family was the best option for you. He already had your stuff all packed up when your landlord kicked you out and he's dropping it off later today."

"I see," Heather said. "And what happens to me after the baby's born?"

"I really don't care," Mike said. "But until then, I'm not taking my eyes off you. Once the doctor comes in and signs that release letting you leave, you're coming with us." Heather didn't argue anymore; either because she didn't want to or knew it was fruitless. The doctor came in shortly after with her release papers and Rose came with a change of clothes for Heather since the ones they'd found her in were filthy and torn. Once she had changed, Mike, Micky and Rose walked out with her to their car to drive her home.

"You'll be staying in the downstairs room with Rose and Sarah," Mike said as they walked in.

"Rose is staying here, too?" Heather asked.

"You have a problem with that?" Rose asked.

"No, just wondering why," Heather answered.

"Cause none of us trust you, Heather," Micky snapped. "Sarah, Rose and I know you the best. We all know who you are and what you're capable of and Rose wants to keep an eye on you just as much as the rest of us."

"I was attacked and raped and now I'm being treated like a prisoner again," Heather snapped at him. "By my own family."

"Only one here who's your family is Micky," Rose said. "And you burned that bridge with him a long time ago. Yes, we're sorry about you being raped and tortured, but that doesn't change the fact that you can't be trusted."

"You really think I'd do something to hurt my own baby?" Heather asked.

"We have no idea what you're going to do," Micky said. "We have no idea why you did what you did. And no, we don't believe your story about being forced to."

"Where's the bathroom?" Heather asked suddenly clutching her stomach. Mike pointed to the door not wanting to clean up vomit from the floor.

"Can you guys try and cool it a little?" Sarah asked when Heather slammed the door behind her.

"Don't tell me you trust her," Davy said. "She's a liar and a murderer!"

"She's not a murderer," Sarah said. "She didn't kill Mike and as far as I know she hasn't killed anyone before that. But she's already been under a lot of stress lately and putting her under more is only going to hurt the baby. You have to put aside your disdain for her and think about the baby. That's the important thing."

"Fine," Micky said. "But she doesn't go anywhere without at least two of us with her."

"Agreed," Mike said. "I'm going to all doctors appointments and one of you can join me."

"I will," Micky said just as Heather emerged from the bathroom wiping her face.

"Your bed's already been made if you want to rest," Sarah said. Heather nodded and walked right into the bedroom and stayed there the rest of the day. Sarah had gone in and talked to her later on. Mike wasn't sure what she had said to Heather, but it seemed to make Heather a little less averse to everything.

Mike had to admire Sarah and understood now why Micky cared for her so much. She had been through hell in her life, just like the rest of them, but still held her head high. She had a caring heart for Heather, even though he knew she didn't like her. Over the whole next month, it was Sarah who took care of Heather when she needed something. She was able to put aside her anger and hatred for the woman and do what needed to be done for the sake of Mike's child. Which was more than even Mike could do. He could barely even stand to be in the same room with Heather for longer than a few minutes.

On the morning of her first doctor's appointment since leaving the hospital a month later, Mike walked nervously around the living room. Micky and Rose had promised to go with him to help make him feel a little more at ease. Micky had stayed up a little late the night before, so Mike decided to let him sleep as the others had breakfast that morning. Rose came with him to wake Mike up about half an hour before they had to leave.

As soon as Mike opened the door, he heard familiar sounds of Micky having a nightmare. It wasn't the first time Mike had heard Micky thrash about and groan from some of the nightmares of his past, but it certainly hadn't happened in a while. Mike carefully walked over to Micky and gently placed his hands on his shoulders to wake him. Unfortunately, it startled him awake.

"Amanda!" Micky exclaimed as he jerked awake.

"Micky, it's ok," Rose said coming over to his side. "It was a dream...just wake up."

"I'm ok," Micky moaned rubbing his head. "What time is it?"

"Almost 1030," Mike answered though he was worried about Micky. He'd never seen Micky look as upset as he was and he wondered who Amanda was. "You sure you're ok?"

"Fine," Micky answered. "I'll be ready in a bit. Just gonna take a shower." Micky climbed out of bed and grabbed a few clothes before walking down the stairs.

"What was that?" Mike asked Rose who looked just as worried as Mike. "Who's Amanda?"

"Micky always tried to help everyone," Rose sighed. "When new girls would come to the house, they'd be hung from the ceiling by their wrists and not fed or given any water. It was a way of making them weak; easier to discipline. Micky would sneak down to the basement in the middle of the night with a piece of his sandwich and a glass of water for them. Sarah and I went with him one night when this girl named Amanda was down there. We were trying to stop him honestly, because we knew he'd get the shit beat out of him if he got caught. But he did it anyway. He took her down from the ceiling and started feeding her and gave her some water. I barely heard the footsteps before the door slammed open and his mother walked in. She was pissed and we all thought she was going to beat Micky, but she shot Amanda in the head right next to Micky."

"Oh my God," Mike breathed in shock.

"Micky's mother was cruel," Rose continued. "She didn't care about the girls. She did it to teach Micky a lesson. She wouldn't even let him wash the blood off for the rest of the day. He even had to bury her himself. He was a wreck for weeks after. The only thing that brought him back was when I told him I was pregnant."

"That's terrible," Mike said.

"He never got over it I guess," Rose said. "He blamed himself for her death." Mike didn't know what else to say. He never even imagined anything like that. He'd never seen any of the girls that his father kept die, but he was forced to help bury their bodies. He couldn't even imagine what Micky must have gone through in that moment; just for trying to help someone.

* * *

Peter started washing the dishes not long after Rose, Micky and Mike took Heather to her doctor's appointment. He was kind of glad to have Heather out of the house because he hated feeling the tension in the air. Everyone wanted to say something, Micky and Davy even wanted to hurt her, but they couldn't. So instead there was a tension in the air so thick it made Peter sick all the time. Part of him wanted to give Heather the benefit of the doubt and believe her story, but mostly he trusted his friends' judgement. He wanted to hate her for hurting Mike, but he couldn't because he still had that small part of him that wanted to believe that she really hadn't wanted to hurt Mike.

After only a few minutes of washing dishes, Peter heard a soft knock on the door. Davy was sitting on the couch reading an old magazine and Sarah was lying down for a nap in the downstairs bedroom so Peter crossed the room to open the door himself. When he opened the door, a young girl with long blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. She was really pretty, but the hair on the back of his neck stood up.

"Hi," she smiled nervously. "My car broke down and it won't start. I was wondering if you could maybe take a look? I think it's the battery."

"Well, I'm not really good at cars," Peter answered knowing it was more Micky and Mike's area of expertise.

"Well, I think it just needs a little jump start," she said. "Please?"

"Ok," Peter said and followed her outside. There was a large van parked outside their house and the hood was already open. Peter walked over to it to take a look at the battery. Almost as soon as he leaned over the engine, he felt a large hand clamp over his mouth and pull him back. A second later, he felt cold steel touch his temple and realized that someone was holding a gun to his head.

"Don't make a sound," a man's voice said behind him. "Don't even try to fight. You do, and I pull the trigger." Peter's eyes flicked over to the girl hoping she would run and not get involved, but she just stood there smiling.

"That was easy," she said.

"Hide the van," another woman said coming out of the back of the van. She was older with brown curly hair and brown eyes.

"Yes, Ma'am," the younger girl said and got behind the driver's seat. The man holding onto Peter pushed him forward, back toward the house. Peter didn't want to go back into the house knowing Davy and Sarah would be endangered, but he didn't have much of a choice with a gun held to his head. As soon as he walked back in the hosue, Davy looked up and jumped when he realized what was going on.

"Keep your hands where I can see them, boy," the man said behind Peter.

"Sit down," the older woman told Davy. Davy immediately did what he was told and sat down in the chair the woman pointed at in the kitchen. The woman took out some rope and tied Davy to the chair. Once she'd secured Davy, Peter was unceremoniously pushed into another chair, but was still able to see the gun still pointed directly at his head so he didn't fight back as the woman tied him to the chair. His only hope was that Sarah would be able to sneak away and go get help, but he wasn't sure since she had been sleeping.

"Where's the girl?" the man asked.

"What girl?" Davy lied.

"Don't play games with us, boy," the woman said. "Where's Sarah?"

"Sarah who?" Peter asked. The woman nearly snarled and grabbed Peter by the hair, yanking his head back.

"I told you not to play games with me," she growled. "I don't like being lied to. Where is the girl? We know she's here." Before Peter could answer, they all turned toward the back door when they heard a shriek. Peter's heart sank as he realized the other girl who'd tricked him must have found Sarah trying to escape. The older woman smiled realizing this too and turned to the man with the gun. "Go out there!" The man didn't hesitate and darted out the back door.

"What do you want with us?" Davy asked. "If it's money, we don't have any."

"We don't want money, idiot," she laughed. A second later, the girl and man came back through the back door with Sarah held tightly between them. She was putting up quite a fight, however and the blonde girl had a bloody lip.

"I caught her trying to climb out the bedroom window," the girl said.

"Trying to escape?" the older woman asked. "Trying to run off to your little prince and warn him? And what did you do to Shirley?"

"She headbutted me," the blonde, whom Peter now assumed was named Shirley, answered.

"That was very naughty," the older woman said.

"Go fuck off, Claire," Sarah spat.

"What happened to you?" Claire answered. "You used to be so disciplined. You used to be such a good girl. Micky corrupted you."

"Maybe we should teach her some new lessons," the man said.

"Calm down, Cole," Claire said. "Sarah, sweetie, you should apologize to me. You tried to run away from me and warn your little prince and then you speak so flippantly with me and hurt my girl. Be a good little girl and apologize."

"Go to hell, you fucking bitch!" Sarah answered and actually spat at Claire's feet before she started struggling again. "I'll die before I let you do anything to hurt him again!" Cole twisted her arm tighter behind her back and she cried out in pain lowering to the ground slightly.

"How dare you!" Shirley bellowed and yanked at Sarah's arm violently.

"Calm down, Shirley," Claire said taking a small needle out of her pocket and handing it to Cole. "We have a little time before they get home. Go ahead and take her into the other room and remind her what happens when you cross me."

"No!" Davy exclaimed struggling against his ropes as Cole and Shirley dragged Sarah into the room downstairs. "Leave her alone!"

"Shut up," Claire said.

"She didn't mean it," Peter tried, "she's sorry. Please don't hurt her!"

"I said, shut up!" Claire barked at them as the door closed behind Sarah. Months ago Peter wouldn't have had any idea what they were planning on doing to Sarah other than hitting her a little, but now...he had an idea that this Claire was Micky's mother and he knew what that would mean. He tried desperately to free himself to save Sarah, but he couldn't break free of his bonds.

"You know Micky will kill you if he finds out you did anything to hurt her!" Davy yelled trying just as hard to break free.

"He can try, sweetie," Claire said walking over to Davy and grabbing his face tightly. "But he's never had the guts and he'll never get the opportunity. Stop struggling or you'll force me to punish you, too. You don't really want that, now do you?"

"Please," Peter pled softly trying desperately to get her to leave Davy alone. She turned to Peter and opened her mouth to talk again, but stopped when they heard a loud banging on the door.

"What's going on in there!" Mr. Babbitt yelled from the other side of the door.

"Who is that?" Claire hissed quietly.

"Our landlord," Peter answered.

"Get rid of him!" Claire hissed untying Peter. For a moment, Peter thought of attacking her now that he was free, but almost immediately, she pulled a pocket knife from her pocket and held it against Davy's throat. He winced and jerked as far away from the knife as he could. "Don't do anything stupid or your friend gets his throat slit."

"I won't," Peter said as Mr. Babbitt banged on the door again.

"Boys!" Mr. Babbitt yelled. Peter opened the door slowly and smiled at Mr. Babbitt.

"Hi, Mr. Babbitt," Peter said.

"I heard a woman screaming," Mr. Babbitt said. "What are you boys doing in there?"

"Oh, that was me," Peter said even as he tried to think of a way to secretly give him a message that they were in trouble without letting Claire know. "I was trying to practice my werewolf imitation, but I'm afraid I'm not as good as Micky."

"Well keep it down," Mr. Babbitt said and walked away. Peter couldn't really think of anything; he failed.

"Good boy, now come sit back down," Claire said. "Quickly." Peter did as he was instructed and Claire tied him back up. Peter realized the whole time they didn't hear anything from the room and had no idea what was going on in there. After about 15 minutes, the door opened and Shirley and Cole came back out dragging a limp Sarah between them.

"What did you do to her!?" Davy exploded as they dropped her onto the floor in the center of the room. Every fiber of Peter's being froze as he saw her. There was a dark purple bruise forming around her neck and her skirt was ruffled revealing another large bruise on her thigh. Her hair hung over her face, but he could see a large bruise on her cheek as well. Peter felt terrible, but there was nothing he could do anymore.

"I told you to shut up," Claire said. "They taught her a lesson. If you don't shut the hell up and do what I tell you to, you'll be taught the same damn lesson. So I suggest you shut your mouth and do what I tell you to, little boy. Your friends should be home soon." Davy didn't argue any further. Neither did Peter. They didn't want to make things worse than they already were, though Peter didn't know what they could do to try and warn Micky and Mike not to come home. If they did, they'd be walking straight into a trap set by Micky's mom. And Peter had no idea what in the world that would mean, but he knew it wouldn't be good.


	23. Hostage

Author's Note: Let me know what you think. This is the point where it's going to get dark again. Let me know what you think, please! I'll try not to get too graphic, but there will be some torture in the future.

Chapter 23: Hostage

Micky opened the front door after the doctor's appointment. It had gone fairly well; the doctor said Heather and her baby appeared to be doing fine, but that she would have to stay on bed rest and stay as stress free as possible for the next 4 months until the baby arrived. Mike had hardly said anything the ride over and the ride home. Micky and Rose hadn't been allowed in the room during the examination, but they waited in the lobby for Mike and Heather to finish and had been told what the doctor said. But that was about all he said the entire time. Micky could tell this was really weighing on him and Micky really wished there was something he could do to make it easier. But there wasn't.

"Sarah!" Micky exclaimed when the first thing he saw when he opened the door was Sarah lying on the floor in a crumpled heap in the middle of the living room. Without a thought or a second look around, he ran over to her and knelt on the floor next to her.

"Micky," Mike said in a scared and warning tone. Micky didn't look at him. All he saw in front of him was the woman he loved lying limp in his arms. He gently brushed the hair out of her face and started to quickly examine her. She had a very large bruise on her face and throat and her clothes were rumpled and torn in places.

"What the hell happened?" Micky asked no one in particular.

"Micky!" Mike said more urgently. This time Micky looked up and in each corner of the room stood a man and a woman each holding a gun to Davy and Peter's heads. Both were gagged and looked terrified. Micky didn't recognize any of them, but when his mother walked in through the back patio with a sick smile on her face he wanted to throw up.

"Micky!" she exclaimed as though she were pleasantly surprised to see him. "It's been far too long. My you've grown into a handsome young man."

"What the fuck did you do?" Micky demanded. He never let go of Sarah, knowing if he did, he'd only end up attacking his mother which would surely get Peter and Davy killed. He did feel Rose and Mike close ranks on either side of him as if they knew how much of a struggle it was not to attack her.

"She was naughty," Claire smiled. Micky's stomach churned knowing what that meant. "As for your friends, so far they've been very well behaved. No complaints from me, but we'll see how that goes."

"Let them go, Claire," Mike demanded.

"Why would I do that?" Claire asked innocently.

"They have nothing to do with any of this," Mike said. "Whatever it is you want, they have nothing to do with it. So just let them go."

"Sorry, Michael," Claire said. "I can't do that. I still need them. Because without them, you aren't going to get into the van I have parked outside. Without them, you aren't going to behave."

"We'll do whatever you want, Claire," Rose said. "Mike's right. They have nothing to do with this. Please, just let them go."

"No," Claire said. "Now, please. You've already taken longer than expected, so we have to hurry if we're going to make it in time. Get in the van. All of you."

"Why would we go anywhere with you?" Micky asked.

"I already told you, Micky," Claire chastised. "If you don't behave like good little boys and do what you're told, then you'll get to watch one of your friends get their brains blown into little chunks all over this nice little house. And if you still won't behave, then we'll do it to the other. Then we'll shoot Sarah. Or we could do that first. Maybe put her out of her misery?"

"No!" Mike said as Claire moved to pull something out of her pocket. Micky just sat there frozen. If he went with her, he knew what to expect; they'd all be in danger and Sarah had already been hurt. But if he fought back, Davy and Peter would be killed. Mike made up Micky's mind for him. "We'll go. Just don't hurt them, ok?"

"Good," Claire said smiling. "Michael, why don't you be a good boy and help Micky carry Sarah? Peter and Shirley first, then once you're all in the van all nice and cozy, Cole will bring Davy. So no funny tricks. No heroics. Just be good little boys. Are we clear?"

"Yes," Mike said angrily and knelt down next to Micky to speak softly to him. "Micky, come on. We have to do this. If we don't, they'll die."

"They'll die anyway," Micky said softly pulling Sarah to him. She was alive, but not very responsive at all. Micky figured she'd been drugged somehow. Before she'd been hurt.

"No they won't," Rose said kneeling next to them. "We'll make sure of that. You know how this works. They'll leave them alone if we do what they say."

"For how long?" Micky asked.

"Micky, we can't think that way," Mike said wrapping an arm around Sarah to help cradle her. "We just have to do what they say now, then we'll think of a way out of this. We don't do what they say, we all die now. Including Sarah." Micky just nodded and let Mike help him lift Sarah up. He felt tears burning his eyes, but didn't want to give his mother the satisfaction of knowing she was hurting him, so he quickly brushed them away and focused his rage on keeping himself strong all the way out to the van. He heard Peter whimper in pain a few times behind the gag as they followed the woman holding the gun to his head, but couldn't do much about it. Mike climbed into the van and turned to allow Micky to hand Sarah to him.

Micky didn't want to let her go, but knew he had to. At least for a second. Mike held her close and was as gentle as he could be with her until Micky climbed into the back of the van and took her back. He wanted her to stay as close to him as possible. She was safe as long as she was in his arms. During the shuffle, her skirt moved a little more revealing a large bruise on the inside of her thigh and Micky choked back a sob knowing how she'd gotten it.

"Good boys," Claire said once Rose and Heather had climbed into the back of the van, too. Heather tried to sit next to Mike, but Rose quickly sat on his other side knowing Mike would not have wanted to be that close to her. Peter was sitting down across from Micky and when they shoved Davy forcefully into the back, he moved to pull Davy next to him.

"Hang tight," the man named Cole smiled and shut the doors.

"Micky, I'm so sorry!" Davy exclaimed as soon as the door latched, locking them all in. "We tried to get them to stop, but…"

"Stop," Micky said a little more forcefully than he wanted to. "This isn't your fault. Are you guys hurt?"

"No," Peter said. "She tricked me. Shirley said she wanted me to help her with her car...I didn't know it was a trap. I was looking at her engine and the next thing I know there's a gun at my head. I did what they said cause I didn't want them to hurt Davy or Sarah, but...they did anyway."

"Peter, Micky's right," Mike said paternally. "This isn't your fault. Or Davy's or Sarah's or anyone's."

"It's mine," Micky said softly finally letting the tear escape.

"Micky, it's not your fault," Mike said wrapping his arm around Micky. "You couldn't have known this was going to happen."

"I swore to protect her," Micky said. "I promised her this wouldn't happen again."

"Is she ok?" Peter asked softly.

"She's just drugged," Rose answered. "Other than that...she's strong. She'll be fine. You know that, Micky. She's a fighter. She wasn't always, but you taught her to be."

"That's why they did that to her," Davy said softly. "She tried to escape. She tried to fight back. Claire said she needed to be taught a lesson. I tried to beg her not to…"

"She wouldn't have listened to you, Davy," Mike said. "There's nothing either of you could have done to stop this."

"Did you see it?" Micky asked fear growing in his heart. It was bad enough that they were now exposed to this world and knew that people could be hurt in such a way, but it would be so much worse if they'd actually been forced to witness it knowing they could do nothing to stop it.

"No," Peter answered. "They took her in the bedroom."

"She came out like that," Davy added. "I'm so sorry, Micky."

"I never should have left her," Micky said running his fingers softly over the bruise over her throat and wishing that somehow just doing that would make it disappear. "It's my fault. I promised her…"

"This isn't anyone's fault, Micky," Mike said.

"Isn't it?" Davy asked. Micky looked up to see him cast a glance at Heather. "Awfully interesting timing all of this…"

"Davy, don't start," Mike said. "I knew there was a risk of them finding us when we took her in. I just didn't believe her story."

"And you do now?" Davy asked. "Didn't she say she was forced to hurt you by your dad? That wasn't your dad. That was Micky's mom."

"I know that," Mike said. "I don't know what's going on and neither do you."

"She does," Davy said looking at her again.

"I don't know any more about this than you do," Heather said firmly. "My guess is Micky's mom is helping because she and his dad have been having an affair since before even I was born."

"What?" Mike asked.

"You didn't know?" Heather laughed. "She didn't exactly keep it a secret that she slept with anyone and everyone."

"Not from us, no," Micky corrected. "But from the rest of the world, she did. She had her image to keep."

"Well, whatever the case, I had nothing to do with this," Heather said. "I did warn you that I might be leading them right to you, but you insisted I move in."

"And what, they just waited patiently outside for you, Rose, Mike and Micky to all be gone?" Davy asked.

"Leaving the most vulnerable behind to spring a trap?" Heather continued. "Knowing my mom, yeah. You'd be surprised how patient she is when she really wants something."

"Enough!" Mike exclaimed. "We shouldn't be pointing fingers at anyone. She's here with us and we need to find a way out of this. That's all that matters."

"Maybe we can bargain with them," Peter said.

"I doubt it," Mike answered. "They aren't really the type to bargain. We'll figure something out. Everything's gonna be ok."

"How is everything gonna be ok, Mike?" Micky asked before his brain told him to stop. "This is my mother we're dealing with, not your father. Your father never touched you. Your father left you alone. My parents are different, Mike. They don't give a shit about anyone but themselves. They thrill in torture. They get off on it. Even if we're there 5 minutes it'll still be hell. It's already hell. They fucking raped Sarah after I told her she'd be safe! So tell me, Michael, how is everything gonna be ok?"

"Micky, calm down," Rose said. "I know you're upset, but don't take it out on Mike. Just breathe. This isn't your fault. We keep telling you that. You couldn't have known this was going to happen."

"I should have stayed with her," Micky said.

"You were protecting Mike," Rose countered. "Besides that, she wouldn't want you to give up everything to stay by her side every minute of every day. But you can help her now. You can pull yourself back together and keep a level head. You escaped them twice. You can do it again."

"Technically I only escaped once," Micky said. "Mike was the brains behind the second one."

"Exactly," Mike said. "We need to work together if we're going to expect to get out of here. Trust me, I hate what happened to Sarah just as much as you do and I wish I could do something to make it better. And no, my dad never touched me, but I saw a lot of shit growing up. I'm not gonna stand by and let anyone else go through that. We're gonna be ok because we're gonna have faith and we're gonna work together to get the hell out." Before anyone could say anything else, the van came to a stop and the doors opened. Again they were faced with guns pointed directly at them.

"Get out," Claire demanded. Micky held tightly onto Sarah as they all climbed out, with a slight hand off to Mike again for a second, and looked where they were. It looked like an ambulance loading bay for a hospital. He looked around further and saw they were at the psychiatric hospital Sarah had just escaped from. And now she was being brought back. Micky desperately wanted to run, but within a second, the two named Shirley and Cole grabbed Davy and Peter again and pressed the guns so tightly to their temples they would no doubt leave a mark.

"Please leave them alone," Mike asked again.

"They're insurance," Claire responded. "Not going to happen. Inside." Micky took a second to tell his feet to walk forward into the hospital. His heart kept screaming at him to run away; not to bring Sarah back here. But his choice was to either run and try and escape with Sarah when there was no certainty of success, or save Peter and Davy. He knew in his heart what Sarah would tell him to do, so he followed that and walked inside knowing the kinds of tortures that awaited them.


	24. Into the Asylum

Author's Note: Like I said, it's getting darker from here. Hope you still like it! Please review to let me know what you think!

Chapter 24: Into the Asylum

"This is useless," Davy grumbled pushing on the door to the room they were now locked in with all his might. "It won't budge!"

"Did you expect it to, Davy?" Micky asked a little angrily. "This is an insane asylum. They built this place to keep people in. That door is very heavily reinforced. Trying to escape outta here will be like trying to escape outta prison."

"It was worth a shot," Davy mumbled.

"Everything's worth a shot," Peter said in his normal effort to try and cheer everyone up. But Mike knew the truth. It was a waste of time and energy for Davy to be trying the door. Not that he really had a better solution in mind.

"We aren't getting out of here," Heather scoffed. "Get used to it."

"Shut up," Davy snapped. Mike jumped up and stood between them before another argument broke out between them. They'd been in this room for only an hour and already she and Davy had fought at least twice. No matter his feelings for her, which admittedly were mixed at best, it wasn't good for the baby. His baby. He couldn't stop thinking about that. He shook the thought from his head preferring to focus on a way out.

Looking around the room, he saw there was no conventional means of escape. There wasn't even a window. There was a small bathroom without a door and the walls were all bare. There were six beds: one that Rose was sitting on the end of, one that Peter was sitting on, one that Heather was lying on, one Davy now plopped angrily on and a fifth Mike had just been sitting on. He looked at the sixth bed and his heart nearly broke. Micky had laid Sarah gently on the old mattress and then curled next to her, holding her as tightly to him as he possibly could. His head resting on the wall and his hands caressing her hair in a vain attempt to make her feel safer. Or maybe it was for him. Mike wasn't really sure.

"I think we should figure out what they want and then give it to them," Peter suggested.

"What they want is revenge," Micky said.

"I don't know, Micky," Mike said sitting back down. "Your mom specifically said that Peter and Davy were insurance. If they wanted to torture us for revenge, why would they need insurance?"

"So they want something from us?" Rose asked.

"Or they want us to do something," Micky finished.

"So maybe if we do what they want, they'll let us go afterwards?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, that's never gonna happen," Micky said.

"It's worth a shot," Peter said.

"We can't just ask them," Micky said. "My mother doesn't bargain."

"Well, we have to try something," Mike said.

"Why don't we just wait and see what they want and then go from there," Rose said.

"How long do you think we'll have to wait?" Davy asked. Mike shrugged; they'd already been there an hour and he expected something by now.

"Part of the torture is waiting," Rose said. "They may not be here for a while. We may as well sleep. We'll need a lot of rest." No one argued with her, but no one really fell asleep. They just sat in silence and waited; Mike had no way of telling how long it had really been before Sarah finally started stirring.

"Rose, get a cold washcloth from the bathroom," Micky said as Sarah groaned a little.

"What exactly did they do to her, anyway?" Davy asked. "I mean, of course other than...you know…"

"They drugged her," Mike answered walking over to the bed with them. "She ok?"

"She's burning up," Micky said.

"Is that normal?" Peter asked.

"Sometimes," Mike answered.

"She usually reacted badly to the drugs," Rose said coming out of the bathroom and placing the washcloth on Sarah's forehead.

"She'll be fine," Micky answered before Peter or Davy could react. "This is a good sign, ironically."

"Micky…" Sarah moaned.

"I'm here, sweetie," Micky whispered softly.

"Don't hurt him," Sarah groaned again.

"I'm here," Micky said. "Just relax." Sarah finally looked up at him and Micky somehow managed a smile; the first smile Mike had seen in a while.

"I brought the trash can, too," Rose said as Sarah started coughing. Sarah leaned over the side of the bed and threw up violently into the can with Micky holding her hair back out of her face. She groaned a little more when she'd finished and Rose gently took a second washcloth and wiped Sarah's face. Micky moved the first cold cloth to the back of Sarah's neck and cradled her back into his arms. It was disturbing seeing the whole thing so well executed; they'd all done this before. Sarah looked around a little and her she suddenly got very scared as she realized where she was.

"No," Sarah breathed.

"Sarah, calm down," Micky tried relaxing her.

"Please don't tell me we're...I'm can't be back here!" Sarah exclaimed pushing away from Micky and trying to run.

"I'm sorry," Micky answered holding her tightly to him. "I wish I could have done something to stop this. I didn't have a choice…" Sarah looked at Peter and Davy, who both looked like they wanted to say something to help, but didn't know what to say.

"Sarah, don't worry," Mike tried. "We're going to find a way out of this."

"Did they hurt you?" Sarah asked them. Davy and Peter shook their heads before she turned to Mike and Rose.

"We're all fine, Sarah," Mike answered.

"Mike's right," Micky said pulling her carefully back into his arms. "Everything is going to work out. I promise they won't hurt you again."

"You can't promise that, Micky," Sarah said. "You and I both know that. I tried to get away. I tried to help you, but…"

"I know," Micky answered. "Davy and Peter told me what happened. They said you were very brave. We'll get through this. We'll find a way out."

"Just promise me you won't leave me," Sarah whispered softly.

"I will never, ever leave you," Micky answered placing a soft kiss on her head. "That much I can promise." Mike sighed heavily and sat back down on the bed. They waited silently for maybe another several hours. Mike wasn't really sure; not even being able to see the sky was starting to make him uneasy. When they finally heard the 3 locks on the door open, Mike jumped up and positioned himself in front of the door; between the door and his friends. He heard Micky pull Sarah closer to him and he heard Rose stand next to him. He wanted her to sit back down, but he knew Rose well enough to know by now that she was a fighter and she wasn't about to back down now.

"Good morning," Claire said walking in with the two other people who'd kidnapped them and a second, older man. Behind him he heard a sharp intake of breath from Sarah; something had terrified her. It didn't take her long for Mike to figure it out. The older man that had walked in must have been the doctor that ran this place; the man who'd tortured her for 5 years: Wayne Eichmann. "Did you get enough sleep?"

"What do you want?" Mike demanded.

"You really get straight to the point, don't you, Michael," Claire laughed.

"I just want to get out of here," Mike answered. "And to do that, I need to give you what you want."

"And what makes you think that I'm going to let you go once you give us what we want?" Dr. Eichmann asked derisively.

"Please," Mike said. "Just tell us what you want so we can get this over with."

"I see why you like him, Claire," Dr. Eichmann laughed. "He's definitely got some spirit." Mike rolled his eyes at the implication and watched as Dr. Eichmann walked around him toward Micky. Mike moved to continue standing in front of Micky and Sarah, determined to protect them as long as he could.

"Just tell us what you want," Mike pressed. "What do you want from us?"

"What makes you think we even want anything?" Dr. Eichmann asked. "What makes you think we don't want to just punish you?"

"Because you wouldn't have taken our friends, too," Mike said. "As insurance. If we don't do what you want, you'll kill them. If we do what you want, you'll let them go. That's the deal; am I right?"

"You're very smart," Dr. Eichmann said. "But see, Micky here did a very bad thing. And you helped him. So yes, you're both being punished for that. Along with your other crimes against the family."

"Other crimes?" Micky asked. "All I ever did was escape."

"You know what you did, Micky," Dr. Eichmann barked. "And when I thought you were dead, I thought my opportunity to punish you had been dashed. But here you are. Looking very good for a dead man. How did you do it? Have your friend slip you a little deadly nightshade then make him dig you up?"

"He didn't make me do anything," Mike said trying to take the attention away from Micky. "That was my idea. I did it. So you wanna punish someone, punish me."

"We will, Michael," Claire said. "But that isn't the first time he escaped. And from what I hear, there's a lot more to it than just that."

"What else is it you think I did?" Micky asked.

"I don't like games, Micky," Dr. Eichmann said. "I know what you did and so do you. But you'll pay for that in due time. In the meantime, yes, there is also something we want from you."

"Whatever it is, I'll do it," Micky said. "If you promise to let them go."

"We can't let them go," Cole said speaking up for the first time. "They'll run to the cops."

"No, they won't," Mike said. "If we make them swear, they won't go to the cops."

"She is a cop," Shirley said pointing at Rose.

"Hush," Claire barked at them. "They can go to the cops all they want. It won't do them any good."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked. Claire smiled and lunged for Rose, grabbing her by the wrist and throwing her onto one of the empty beds.

"I mean this," Claire said straddling Rose and pulling out a piece of paper from her pocket. Mike lunged at Claire to try and get her to get off Rose, but was immediately grabbed and held back by Cole and Shirley. Dr. Eichman smacked Mike across the face so hard, Mike saw stars and tasted metal in his mouth. Claire continued, however, as if nothing else was going on. "Recognize this little search warrant request? You drafted it, darling. You submitted it to your bosses and the District Attorney. You were trying to get your friends to search this place. Well, guess what, sweetie? Application denied."

"How did you get that?" Rose asked. Behind him, Mike heard Davy and Peter move to try and help Rose, too, but something suddenly stopped them. It took a second for Mike to realize there was a gun pressed against the back of his head.

"Your boss is a friend of mine," Claire smiled. "All that work you did to try and uncover this place? All the evidence you found and collected? It's been destroyed."

"Which also means no one will be looking for any of you," Dr. Eichmann laughed. "You've all been officially admitted as my patients. You're all stuck here until we decided you've been...cured."

"Until then," Claire smiled before leaning down to whisper something in Rose's ear that Mike couldn't hear. Whatever it was, Mike knew it must have been bad because Rose immediately started fighting back. Not that it did her any good; Claire slapped her just as hard across the face as Mike had been.

"Stop that!" Micky exclaimed jumping up from the bed but still standing protectively in front of Sarah. "Tell us what you want! I swear to God, I'll give it to you. Just leave them alone! let them go. Keep me here. Punish me. I don't care. Just leave them alone."

"What I want is for you to pay for what you did to my son," Dr. Eichmann said squaring off with Micky who got a confused look on his face.

"Your son?" Micky asked.

"I believe you thought he was your brother," Dr. Eichmann answered as Micky slowly understood. "But you see, your father had an accident when he was a boy and I'm afraid it rendered him sterile. So yes, my son. But more than that. First and foremost, you promise me you'll tell me what I want to know if I let your friends go?"

"I'll do whatever you want," Micky sneered.

"I want your daughter," Dr. Eichmann smiled.


	25. Secrets and Lies

Author's Note: Kinda short, but I'll have another one posted within the next day or so I'm sure. Thanks to my new beta reader BluCrayonsRTasty!

Chapter 25: Secrets and Lies

"My daughter?" Micky echoed his stomach twisting in knots. The gun being pressed into the back of Mike's head didn't help things. "I don't have any children."

"You had a baby with Rose," Claire smiled still straddling Rose. "That's why you ran away from us."

"I told you that baby died," Micky said hoping the fear wasn't showing on his face. "And I don't even know if it was mine."

"Of course it was," Claire smiled. "Let's see...who fucked Rose in the months before you left? Chucky, but we just said he was sterile so it couldn't have been his. Your other brother Philip, but it turns out he's just as sterile. And there's that boy Max who, poor thing, just could barely get it up enough to shoot anything out. And finally you. So, yes, Micky. That baby was yours."

"It doesn't matter," Micky said. "The baby died. Stillborn. We buried her."

"Where?" his uncle asked.

"I don't remember," Micky answered.

"You mean to tell me you don't remember where you buried your little baby girl?" Eichmann asked in mock shock.

"I was a little busy running and hiding," Micky said.

"Try and remember," Claire smiled. "Rose, sweetie, do you remember?"

"Fuck off, Claire," Rose said. "Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."

"Don't be naughty, now," Claire said moving to wrap her hand around Rose's throat.

"Stop!" Mike exclaimed. "Leave them alone! Don't you get it? They knew that even if the baby survived, they'd have to give it up. They never let themselves get attached to her, so when she died, they just buried her and moved on!"

"They told you about her?" Eichmann asked Mike as Claire loosened her grip on Rose's throat. "Did they tell all of you about her?"

"He told me that's why he escaped," Mike said. "That he didn't want any harm coming to that baby. But it didn't matter, because she died in the end."

"Did she have your eyes, Micky?" Eichmann asked smiling over at Micky, "or did she have yours, Rose?"

"Doesn't matter," Micky said. "She's dead. How many times do we have to tell you that?"

"Now why don't we believe you?" Claire asked.

"I don't care whether you believe us or not," Rose said.

"Well, if she's dead, you have no bargaining chip, do you?" Eichmann smiled.

"Please, I'll give you whatever else you want," Micky said getting panicked. He couldn't risk his friends, but he couldn't let them know Hope was alive either.

"We really don't want anything else," Eichmann said. "Other than to watch you suffer. To make you pay for what you did to my son."

"And what you did to me," Claire said pulling a knife out of her back pocket. She was still on top of Rose and had the look in her eye that Micky knew all too well. "You drugged me, you little bitch. You aren't going to get away with that."

"No!" Micky yelled and launched himself at Claire to protect Rose. He knocked her off the other side of the bed, but unfortunately fell on the knife, causing it to slice his stomach open.

"Bad boy, Micky!" Claire spat as she sat up but smiled when she saw the blood on his shirt.

"She didn't drug you," Micky said trying to hide how much pain he was in. "I did. I slipped you those drugs. I swear. She had nothing to do with it. She didn't even know about it. I swear."

"You swear?" Claire asked lifting up his shirt to look at his wound. She placed her hand over it and pushed causing more blood to come out and more pain to erupt through Micky's stomach. He couldn't help it; he screamed in pain.

"Neither of us knew anything about it," Sarah said sitting up on the bed. She'd been so terrified before when his uncle had first walked in, but seeing Micky injured must have given her a renewed sense of courage. "He just woke us up in that hotel and told us to be quiet. Then he uncuffed us and we all ran for it. We didn't know anything about it. Stop hurting him."

"See, Sarah, sweetie, that makes me want to hurt him more," Claire smiled and picked the knife up off the ground.

"Come now, Claire," Eichmann said. "They deserve a reward for at least telling us the truth about that. Let's let them be for now. Think about what they'll have to say to us tomorrow."

"You know how to spoil the fun, don't you," Claire said eyeing the blood on the knife as though it were dripping diamonds.

"We have plenty of time, Claire," Eichmann said.

"True," Claire smiled and stood up. "Better to drag it out anyway. Oh, and Rose, darling, you'll find some useful supplies in the medicine cabinet. Don't say we never gave you anything." Cole and Shirley let go of Mike, but not without Cole kicking him hard in the stomach first. Mike dropped to his knees and gasped in pain as the four made their way out the room. As soon as the door was shut behind them, Davy rushed over to Mike's side and Peter rushed to Micky. Sarah tried to stand, but Rose went to her telling her softly to sit back down; she was still suffering the effects of the drugs.

"Micky, you ok?" Peter asked.

"I've been worse," Micky answered truthfully.

"I'm fine, Davy," Mike said forcing himself to his feet. He looked a little green to Micky, but he looked like he'd be fine; nothing more than a bruised stomach and cheek.

"Get him onto that bed," Rose ordered and dashed off to the bathroom. Micky assumed she was looking for whatever useful supplies his mother had mentioned. Davy and Peter lifted Micky and set him gently on the bed as Rose instructed.

"Why would they leave us a first aid kit?" Davy asked spying the bag as Rose set it on the bed next to Micky.

"Because they want our wounds to heal," Rose answered. "We die from our wounds and they can't torture us anymore. That's why she taught us medicine."

"That's a little sick," Davy said. "But good all at the same time, I guess. So that means you can help Micky?"

"Yes," Rose answered. "This doesn't really look like that bad of a wound."

"Rose, just tell me you're ok," Micky said indicating the bruises on her face and throat.

"I'm fine," Rose answered taking a small bottle out of the bag and some gauze. "I've been worse. Don't worry so much about me."

"We're all fine, Micky," Mike said sitting down next to Sarah in Micky's place. Rose worked quickly and expertly at cleaning and dressing Micky's wound. She got the bleeding stopped and wrapped his stomach in a bandage before grabbing the flimsy sheets and pulling them over him. Once he was sure that Micky was fully attended to, Mike led Sarah over to Micky and helped her curl up next to him. Despite the pain he was in, Micky held her close to him and stroked her hair gently.

"Thank you, Sarah," Micky said. "You were very brave. I love you."

"Just rest, Micky," Sarah said wrapping her arms around him.

"Micky," Peter said softly after a few minutes of silence. "I know I said we should just give him what he wants to get out of here, but now that we know what he wants...please don't."

"Peter…" Micky started.

"No, he's right," Davy said. "Somehow he knows. Someone must have told him. Please don't give her up for us. Micky, promise us."

"I couldn't let anything happen to her," Micky answered.

"So she is alive?" Heather asked. "You lied to them?"

"Of course he lied to them," Mike answered. "And if you tell them that, I will make your life a living hell."

"Why would I tell them?" Heather asked.

"Why don't you tell us?" Davy asked. "It seems as though the only person they haven't hurt is you."

"Davy, not now," Mike said. "Let me deal with her; please."

"Fine," Davy muttered.

"Mike, you sure you're ok?" Micky asked noticing the blood forming on Mike's lip.

"Just a little cut," Mike answered. "Nothing I can't handle. Micky, what did you do to his son? What the hell happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Micky answered.

"Micky," Mike pushed. "You have to tell us. We're going to find out sooner or later. I'd rather hear it from you."

"You automatically think I did something bad?" Micky asked.

"Well, yes," Mike answered. "They want to torture you for it. You don't want to talk about it. And you never told me about it…you told me everything else."

"Not everything," Micky argued; he really didn't want to talk about it.

"The important stuff," Mike argued back.

"Micky, tell them," Sarah said softly kissing his chin. "They aren't going to think any less of you."

"You don't know that," Micky said.

"How could you even think we'd think any less of you, Micky?" Davy asked a little angry and a little shocked.

"Because…" Micky answered turning away from them; unable to face his best friends. "You all hate violence. Especially Peter. He's the biggest pacifist out of all of you."

"Micky, if there's one thing I know for sure, it's that you are one of the best men I know," Peter said. "We've been through this. Besides that, I am having a very difficult time trying to deal with all this. I even want to hurt these people right now; knowing what they've done to you and Mike. To Sarah and Rose. When I saw them pull Sarah into that room and I knew what they were going to do...I wanted to hurt them myself. Just to protect her. But I couldn't because I was tied up.I love you, Micky. If you did anything to hurt someone, I know there was a reason for it."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Mike said. "Micky?"

"Micky," Sarah pushed again. "It's ok." Micky finally gave in, but he still couldn't look at his friends. He hated himself for what he'd done and he prefered to pretend it was nothing more than a nightmare.

"I didn't just hurt him," Micky sighed heavily. "I killed him."


	26. Justifiable

Author's Note: Thanks to my beta BluCrayons! Love you and love your advice!

Chapter 26: Justifiable

_**7 years prior**_

Micky lay in his bed trying to go to sleep, but knowing it was extremely futile. He had never really had a good night's sleep in his entire life. He was 14 years old and always stressed and worried about what would happen the next day. His life was a living hell and he always wanted to do something about it, but his father kept him so drugged that he never had the drive to fight back. He was weakened by hunger as his father only gave him a sandwich at night and half the time he only ate half of it. When one of the girls was being punished, his father didn't allow them to eat, so he'd sneak away and try to give them a little bit of his own food.

Tonight he was tired from hunger, though he'd been able to eat his entire sandwich, and from the work he'd done that day helping his father dig a grave for someone. He wasn't sure who it was for, but he never dared to ask. They'd gone out into a nearby crop field and chose a patch that hadn't been planted yet. His father made him dig about 6 feet down before throwing a wrapped body down in it. The farm was only one of several places his father chose to bury bodies, including their own backyard.

Just as he started falling asleep, he heard noises through the wall. He knew on the other side of his room was Rose and Sarah's room. Rose was his adopted sister and was a year older and Sarah was his age, but had only been captive with them for about a year. He didn't know what was going on; the only people in the house was his father, Micky, Rose and Sarah and his father had gone to bed hours ago after locking all the doors and windows to keep them from escaping. His sister Heather and the few brothers that were still too young to be out of the house were away somewhere with Micky's mother; he wasn't sure where and he didn't really care. So he sat up and listened to the noises through the wall, hoping neither were being hurt.

"Please, don't!" Sarah exclaimed loudly. Micky leapt out of bed, but nearly fell over as his head spun. He was too hungry and sudden movements were making him dizzy. But he could still hear.

"Shut the fuck up, bitch, and stop squirming!" said a male voice through the wall. Micky immediately recognized it as his 19 year old brother Danny and wondered what he was doing here; he hadn't seen Danny in over a year since he'd turned 18 and left.

"Leave her alone," Rose said as Micky finally found the strength to run to the door. Her voice was quiet and stern. Micky knew Danny wouldn't listen to her, though.

"Shut up, bitch, you're next," Danny snapped. Micky stumbled into the hallway and made his way to the door to Sarah and Rose's room, hearing Sarah's pleas the whole way.

"Please, don't," Sarah begged.

"You can't touch her," Rose tried again. "You aren't allowed to touch us without Chucky's consent."

"I thought I told you to shut up," Danny said. Micky opened the door just in time to see Danny punch Sarah squarely in the face. "And I told you to stop squirming! It'll only make it harder for you!"

"Get off her," Micky said trying to sound bold. Micky's sudden presence stunned Danny for a moment who turned to look at him. Danny was sitting on Sarah pinning her to the bed and trying to rip her clothes. Her night shirt had already been torn open and she was definitely struggling. Tears were streaming down her face and blood started to drip from her nose where Danny had punched her. Rose was sitting in the corner with a bloody lip and she looked to be in a lot of pain. Her face said she wanted to help, but was in too much pain to move.

"Get lost, squirt," Danny laughed and turned back to Sarah, using one hand to hold her hands together above her head and the other to start tearing at her underwear.

"Danny, Dad's gonna be mad," Micky said feeling anger boiling inside him. He wasn't drugged up this time; so his anger was left completely unchecked.

"Yeah, are you gonna tell him?" Danny laughed as he finally ripped Sarah's underwear.

"Maybe," Micky admitted clenching his fist.

"Mind your own damn business, you little runt," Danny barked. "This is a woman's place. Under a man and making him happy." Micky watched as Danny positioned himself directly over her; his pants were already undone and he was about to rape her. Sarah continued to beg for him to stop and was sobbing. Micky couldn't help himself. His anger took over his entire body and he ran straight for his brother, shoving him with the little amount of strength he had. It was enough, to knock Danny off Sarah who immediately scrambled off the bed and ran over to Rose.

"No, it's not!" Micky yelled as his brother looked at him in shock. Danny started to get up and Micky knew Danny was going to hurt him and then just go back to raping Sarah before turning to Rose. Micky cast a quick glance at Sarah and Rose who were holding each other as tightly as they could, both bloody and bruised. Micky clenched his fist and as swung as hard as he could as his brother advanced on him. He didn't care what happened to him; but he couldn't stand there and let Rose and Sarah be hurt that way.

Danny was knocked back into the bed and Micky jumped on top of him, somehow throwing several punches with both hands; each blow landed on Danny's face. Micky wasn't really sure what he was doing or how he was even doing it. Everything just sort of blurred. He was dizzy and he couldn't focus, but he wouldn't stop punching. He wasn't even sure how it was that Danny wasn't fighting back. Maybe his brother was too stunned to fight or maybe Micky was just stronger than he thought, but Micky didn't stop.

It wasn't until he felt hands on him, pulling him away from his brother that he finally stopped. His vision was blurred and it took him a moment to realize that it was Rose and Sarah who'd pulled him off his brother. His ears were ringing a little bit and he suddenly felt weak; like his knees were gonna give out on him. Rose carefully led him over to her bed and sat him down, but Micky couldn't take his eyes off his brother. He was lying limp on Sarah's bed and his face was almost indistinguishable under all the blood.

"Micky," Rose said softly. "Are you ok?"

"I...I…" Micky started. He really didn't know what to say. He didn't even really understand what had happened. "We should get my dad."

"No," Sarah said quickly as Micky tried to get up.

"We have to help him," Micky argued. "I'll get in trouble."

"Micky," Rose said slowly pushing him down on the bed. "I don't think there's anything anyone can do to help."

"What do you mean?" Micky asked.

"I think he's dead," Rose said slowly.

"He can't be dead," Micky said softly refusing to believe it. Sarah walked over to his brother very slowly and carefully checked his pulse.

"He's not breathing," Sarah said. "And I can't find a pulse."

"I couldn't have killed him," Micky said. "I'm...he's bigger than me...how...why didn't he fight me?"

"Micky, he was probably startled," Rose answered.

"I didn't mean to…" Micky said still staring at the bloody corpse of his brother. "Oh God...what did I do?"

"Micky, we know you didn't mean to do this," Sarah started.

"But you did what you had to," Rose finished. "He was hurting us. If you hadn't done that, he'd have hurt both of us far worse than we are now."

"What did he do to you?" Micky asked suddenly snapping out of his haze remembering that Rose had been hurt, too.

"I tried what you did," Rose answered. "Got the shit kicked out of me for my efforts."

"I'm sorry," Micky said. "I didn't hear anything at first…"

"It's ok," Sarah said wrapping her arms around him. "You saved me. That's all that matters."

"We still need to get my dad," Micky said. "He'll kill me if he finds out about this."

"Exactly why we shouldn't get your dad," Rose said.

"We'll just come up with something," Micky said.

"Like what?" Sarah asked.

"I don't know," Micky answered. "Maybe he'll go easier on me if I just tell him the truth."

"Maybe?" Rose scoffed. "He'll beat you to within an inch of your life and we both know it."

"So what then?" Micky asked.

"We do what your dad does," Rose answered. "We cover it up. He'll never know. Danny left a year ago and never came back until now. So it wouldn't raise any red flags if he were never seen again, right? Maybe he OD'd and got labeled a John Doe. Maybe he got lost in the woods and died. Maybe he got on a ship and fell overboard. Maybe he just took off."

"Rose…" Micky started unsure her plan would work.

"This will work," Rose said. "We just have to stick to this story. Clean all this up and never talk about this ever again. He was never here. He never attacked us. Nothing happened."

"What are we gonna do with his body?" Sarah asked.

"Bury it," Rose answered.

"And how are we gonna explain your injuries?" Micky asked.

"Your dad was pretty trashed tonight," Rose said. "I doubt he'll even ask anything. He'll probably think he did it."

"I don't…" Micky trailed off.

"Micky, stop," Rose said. "I know you're scared. You defended us, we're gonna defend you now. I just need you to help me bury his body. I can't dig the grave on my own. Sarah can clean up in here as best she can."

"Absolutely," Sarah said. Micky nodded and something in him made him get up to help Rose carry his brother's body outside. It was almost as if he wasn't even there; it was like a strange out of body experience. Even as they began to dig on a spot they both knew was empty, they just went about the motions. They dug as far as they could and carefully rolled Danny's body in the hole.

"You sure he's dead?" Micky asked before they started putting the dirt over him.

"He's not breathing," Rose said. "He has no pulse. I know it upsets you, Micky, but you did this for us. You defended us."

"I killed him," Micky said staring down the hole. It was beginning to hit him and he wasn't sure he could handle it.

"Micky, you had no choice," Rose said.

"I killed him, though," Micky said not really caring; the fact was he killed someone...his own brother even. "My father kills people. My father buries people."

"Micky, listen to me," Rose said firmly. "You are nothing like your father. Nothing. He kills for the fun of it; he kills for sport. You killed your brother because you had to. And you didn't even mean to. You were just trying to defend us and you did. Look at what he did to me. He was about 2 seconds from raping Sarah. Don't you dare think that what you did is anything like what your father does. You're my baby brother, Micky. I love you because you care. Because by some miracle you are nothing like any of the rest of your family. Got that?"

"Yes," Micky said. Her words honestly touched him. He wasn't sure he believed her, but he was at least feeling better about everything.

"I'll finish here," Rose said wrapping him into a tight embrace. "Go clean yourself up. Give me your clothes; they're covered in blood and we need to destroy them too. When you're done with that, go check on Sarah. I love you, Micky. Never forget that." Micky nodded and took his clothes off. He felt a little weird standing there in his underwear, but honestly she'd seen him in worse. He wasn't sure he wanted to leave Rose out here to finish by herself, but looking at his hands, they were covered in both mud and blood. He knew he had to clean himself up, too and he realized the sun was beginning to rise. His father would wake up soon and they would need to be cleaned up by then.

He walked back into the house slowly and quietly so as not to wake up his father and made his way to the bathroom to take a shower. Thoughts swam furiously through his head as the water washed the blood off him. He couldn't really take it anymore; he sunk to his knees and started sobbing. He really couldn't believe that he'd actually taken a life. No matter what the reason, he had still killed someone. He wasn't sure he'd ever be able to forgive himself for that. But he also knew that he would feel a lot worse if he'd done nothing and let his brother rape Sarah and Rose. He knew he'd done what was best, but he still hated it. After a few minutes, he was startled slightly when the shower curtain moved, but was relieved to see Sarah standing there. She didn't say anything to him; she just took off her own clothes and climbed in the shower with him, wrapping him in her arms and letting him cry.

They sat there like that for an hour until the water ran cold and all the tears were washed away. True to their word, no one uttered a word about what happened to anyone and they went about their lives as normal. Micky wished he could at some point find the courage to fight back again, but he never could. Not until the day a few years later when he decided to escape with Rose and Sarah.


	27. Suspicions

Author's Note: Thanks again to my wonderful beta, BluCrayons. You are truly lovely, my dear. Thanks for the help! Again, please review!

Chapter 27: Suspicions

"That's...that's absolutely horrible," Peter breathed when Micky finished. He couldn't imagine anyone going through anything like that: being faced with such a horrible decision. He saw Micky's face shift a little and realized what he'd said. Or rather how it had come out. He quickly tried to correct himself, but ended up tripping over his own words. "I mean...umm...it's not horrible what you did...it's...uh…"

"What Peter is trying to say," Mike said saving Peter, "it's horrible that you were faced with having to do that. But you did the right thing, Micky."

"Yeah," Peter said. "Thanks, Mike."

"Micky, you do know you did the right thing, right?" Davy asked.

"How is killing someone ever the right thing?" Micky asked quietly.

"When the only other option is to allow great harm to befall someone you love," Mike answered. Peter felt like he wanted to cry. He loved Micky and nothing would ever change that; but he couldn't imagine how Micky must have felt in that moment 7 years ago. He couldn't imagine how he felt now. He'd worked so hard to protect them all from his family and it had all been in vain. He wished he knew of some way to get them all out of here safely, but there really didn't appear to be any. All he could do was try and offer comfort.

"Micky, you were faced with an impossible choice," Rose said. "I told you this before. You did what had to be done. And I know that faced with that choice again, you'd do the same thing. We all would. My only question is how did they even find out?"

"They must have found the body," Sarah answered.

"I buried that thing pretty deep," Rose said. Peter got a little chill up his spine at her choice of words, but knew she was trying to de-personalize him; he'd tried to rape her and her friend. "Besides, why would they have been digging there?"

"Could be any number of reasons, Rose," Micky said. "Not least of which is to bury someone else there."

"Yeah, but the body would be nothing but bone now, right?" Davy asked. "How would they have known it was him? And how would they have known that Micky is the one who killed him?"

"Davy brings up a pretty good point," Heather said.

"The clothes," Rose answered flippantly. "They could have recognized Danny from his clothes and I buried Micky's bloody clothes with them. Why? What are you trying to say?"

"Just that they seemed to come to that conclusion pretty quickly," Heather muttered.

"You think one of us said something?" Rose demanded getting a little flushed with anger.

"Well, they knew your daughter was alive and they know Micky killed Danny," Heather said. "They seem to know a lot about all of you. They knew who best to lure out of the house and how. They knew when you'd be gone; when best to strike."

"None of us said a thing, Heather," Micky said.

"What reason would any of us have to turn on each other?" Rose asked.

"Ask Sarah," Heather said.

"What?!" Sarah exclaimed.

"They held you here for how many years?" Heather asked. "You could have told them everything they wanted to know just to get them to stop torturing you. Maybe that's the real reason you escaped this prison. You promised to give them Micky in exchange for your freedom."

"That's fucking bullshit!" Rose spat. "She's locked up in here with us! They fucking raped her!"

"Maybe she wasn't expecting that," Heather said. "My mother has a bad habit of stabbing people in the back."

"I didn't say a word," Sarah said in a tone that sent chills down Peter's spine. Micky looked like he wanted to get up and strangle Heather, but the pain prevented him from moving.

"How do we know it wasn't you, Heather?" Davy asked jumping up and turning on her. "How do we know you're not the mole?!"

"Because I knew nothing about Danny's death and I knew nothing about the baby," Heather answered. "Besides, as Rose said, I'm locked up in here with you."

"Yeah, but you're the only one of us they have yet to lay a finger on!" Davy exclaimed.

"I'm pregnant," Heather said simply.

"ENOUGH!" Mike boomed so loudly that everyone seemed to get an inch or two shorter. "Davy, I don't want to hear another word about how you hate Heather. We all get it. I'm sick of hearing it. It doesn't really matter how they found out. The fact is, they did."

"Doesn't it though?" Davy asked. "If one of us is feeding them information, we need to know about it."

"Davy, I really don't want to hear it," Mike said. "We're all in this together. And we don't need to be pointing fingers at each other. Besides the fact that she's carrying my child and I really don't want any undue stress added to the baby right now."

"You aren't seriously telling me you trust her, are you?" Davy asked. Peter felt very uncomfortable with his two best friends fighting like this, but didn't really know what to say to make it stop. All he could do was sit and listen to them. "She has a point about them knowing way too much about us! And unless you think she's right about Sarah-"

"Davy, I said knock it off!" Mike exclaimed. "It doesn't really matter if I trust Heather or not. All that matters is that we're all being held prisoner. They're not going to hurt her because she's pregnant. And I'm really happy about that. That's my baby. There's no reason for them to keep her here with us if she's an informant. It makes no sense. And Heather, you need to knock it off, too. I don't want to hear any more pointing fingers at anyone. The only thing it's going to accomplish is turning us against each other and if we plan on getting out of here alive, we need to remain a team. Do I make myself clear?"

"Mike's right," Micky said, surprising even Peter. "The only way we're going to get out of this is if we stick together."

"Thank you, Micky," Mike said. "Why don't you try and get a little sleep; you're hurt pretty bad and need to rest."

"It's not as bad as it looks," Micky said laughing it off a little, though Peter knew that Micky was just trying to put them at ease.

"Just try and sleep, Mick," Mike said trying to manage a smile. Micky nodded and relaxed a little more on the bed. He pulled Sarah close to him as if she'd disappear if he let go of her. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest with her hand just below the wound on his stomach as though protecting it from more damage. Micky looked over at Mike for a moment but barely had a chance to open his mouth.

"Mike…" he started.

"It's ok, Micky," Mike said walking over and resting a hand on his shoulder protectively. "I promise." Peter almost asked what the two of them meant, but the look that passed between them before Micky finally closed his eyes and let himself drift off to sleep told it all. Micky didn't want anything happening to the rest of them. Neither Mike nor Micky cared what happened to themselves, but they had just promised each other that they'd do everything they could to keep any harm from befalling Rose, Sarah, Davy, Peter, and even Heather.

They sat there for hours in silence. Davy seemed antsy; he hated just sitting there and wanted to do something, but knew there was no means of escape. Peter noticed glances he shot Heather when Mike wasn't looking; and they weren't nice glances. Peter could almost feel the hatred Davy had for Heather. Peter wasn't sure how he felt. He agreed with Mike to some degree; it didn't make sense for her to be locked up here with them if she had planned this kidnapping. But he also didn't like that she'd suggested Sarah could do anything like it either.

He'd come to know Sarah over the last 5 months and trusted her like a sister. He knew in his heart that even under the cruelest form of torture, she'd never betray Micky. She loved him too much for that. And he loved her the same way. And yet a small part of him wondered how their captors had gotten so much information about them. Had someone been feeding them information? He didn't think Rose could be capable of it either; Hope was her child, too. And Heather hadn't known the baby survived; nor had she known about Micky's brother. None of it made any sense to him.

He was snapped out of his thoughts with the sound of the locks on the doors opening. Just like he had before, Mike jumped up and stood in front of the door as though shielding the rest of them from whoever was on the other side of it. Peter knew that it wouldn't work, though. If they wanted to hurt any of them, Mike alone wouldn't be able to stop them. So did Rose and Davy, apparently, because all three of them moved to stand next to Mike. Together they'd do what they could to protect Micky.

"Calm down," Shirley, the woman who'd tricked Peter, said as she smiled carrying in a covered tray. "I just brought you some dinner. Thought you all might be hungry." Shirley set the tray down on one of the beds and lifted the lid off it to reveal pre-made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches: one for each of them. And a pitcher of water with a cup for each of them. She smiled at Micky lying asleep on the bed. "That looks painful. Poor thing."

"Shut up and go away," Mike said. "You brought us food; now go."

"So testy," Shirley answered. "Fine. I do hope you enjoy your dinner." With that she turned on her heel and left. Peter didn't even realize how hungry he was until he saw the food. He and Davy both moved towards the tray but Mike and Rose hesitated.

"Should we wake Micky?" Davy asked picking up one of the sandwhiches.

"No," Micky said. "Don't eat that."

"I thought you were sleeping," Davy said startled. "Why shouldn't I eat this? I'm really hungry."

"I can't sleep with all this pain," Micky said wincing even as he said it. "And you shouldn't eat it because it could be poisoned."

"Poisoned?" Peter asked eyeing the food as if somehow he could see the poison in the jelly or the peanut butter. "Why would they poison us? I thought they wanted us alive."

"Not that kind of poison," Rose said staring at Heather.

"Oh," Peter answered suddenly understanding what they meant. Davy stared at the sandwich in his hand as though it were something he'd never seen before. "So do we just not eat then?"

"No," Mike said. "We need to eat; but someone should test it first."

"Right," Micky said. "Hand it over."

"No way, Mick," Mike said. "You aren't gonna touch it."

"Why not?" Micky asked. "I've been drugged before. I can handle it better than any of the rest of you."

"Yes, but think about it, Micky, why would they be drugging us?" Rose asked.

"To toy with us," Micky answered.

"To lower our inhibitions," Sarah said. "To make us do whatever they want us to. Including tell them whatever they want us to."

"Like where Hope is," Peter muttered realizing it at the same time as Davy. That also meant that Peter couldn't test the food either; he knew exactly where she was.

"I'll test it," Mike said. "I don't know any details."

"Yeah, but last time it nearly killed you," Davy argued pulling the tray away from him before Mike could grab one.

"Well, we're in a hospital and I'm sure this is a smaller dose," Mike argued. "Even if something happens to me, you just bang on the door and call for help. They aren't gonna let me die."

"Don't care," Davy said quickly and shoved half the sandwich in his mouth quickly before anyone could stop him.

"Davy!" Mike exclaimed ripping the rest of the sandwich out of his hand. "Damnit, Davy! Why the hell did you do that!?"

"Seemed the logical solution," Davy answered swallowing. "Micky can't cause he knows too much. You can't cause it nearly killed you."

"That was really, really stupid, Davy," Mike said then took a deep breath. "And really, really brave."

"So, um, how long until we know if this was drugged?" Davy asked.

"Few minutes," Micky answered looking just as angry as Mike.

"What...what's gonna happen to me?" Davy asked sitting down on the bed.

"You'll feel a little light-headed mostly," Micky answered. "Kinda like you're drunk."

"Just sit down and relax, Davy," Mike said. "You'll know soon enough. We all will."


End file.
